Physical Education · Ch 6 — Test, Measurement & Evaluation
Anthropometric Tests
Anthropometric Tests
Anthropometric testing is the science of assessing the body's surface measurements. Anthropometric evaluation matters because different sports demand different body specifications - height, weight, body build, body composition and so on - and an athlete with an ideal body structure for a sport has an extra advantage. The anthropometric variables that account for performance include stature (height), girth (circumference), width, somatotype, and measures such as body mass, push-ups and biceps girth.
The textbook groups the measurements as follows.
A. Body Measurements
- Body Weight
- Stature / Height
- Waist-Hip Ratio
- BMI (Height-Weight Ratio)
B. Skeletal Girth (Diameters)
| # | Diameter | Body width measured |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bi-acromial Diameter | Shoulder width |
| 2 | Bicristal Diameter | Abdominal width |
| 3 | Bitrochanteric Diameter | Hip width |
| 4 | Humerus Bicondylar Width | Elbow width |
| 5 | Wrist Diameter | Wrist |
| 6 | Femur Bicondylar Diameter | Knee width |
| 7 | Ankle Diameter | Ankle |
C. Circumferences
- Chest Circumference
- Upper-Arm Circumference
- Fore-Arm Circumference
- Thigh Circumference
- Calf Circumference
The two body-composition measures you will compute in detail later - the Waist-Hip Ratio and BMI - belong to this anthropometric group, as does the skinfold/somatotype branch of the classification tree. They are treated fully in Section 6.5 and Section 6.6.
Why anthropometry matters for talent identification
Different sports reward very different physiques. A taller athlete with long limbs and a high bi-acromial (shoulder) width has a natural lever advantage in basketball and volleyball for reaching, blocking and rebounding; a gymnast or figure skater benefits from a lower stature and a favourable strength-to-mass ratio for rotations and landings; a rower benefits from long limb segments and a large frame to generate a long, powerful stroke. Anthropometric testing lets a coach or talent-scout compare a young athlete's measured body dimensions against the known profile of elite performers in a sport, and decide whether to steer that athlete toward, or away from, a particular event, well before performance results alone would reveal it.
Equipment and standard conditions
Reliable anthropometric data depends on using the right instrument for each measurement and on controlling the conditions under which it is taken:
- Stadiometer - a vertical ruled board with a sliding headpiece, for stature.
- Weighing scale - for body weight, ideally calibrated and read with minimal clothing.
- Anthropometric rod or sliding calliper - for skeletal diameters such as bi-acromial, bicristal and bicondylar widths.
- Flexible tape measure - for circumferences such as chest, arm, thigh and calf, and for the waist and hip girths used in the WHR.
Measurements are always taken on the same side of the body, with the same technique, and preferably by the same tester each time, because small differences in technique between testers are a common source of error; the subject should be measured in minimal, standard clothing and without shoes.