46; p=0.0001; Partial ?2=0.276), and BMI (F=12.57; p=0.0001; add to your list Partial ?2=0.111) among the positions. The backs and line players were taller than other players. In addition, the measurement of body mass showed that the line players had the highest body mass and BMI values (Table 3). Table 3 Anthropometric characteristics of male handball players in the 2013 World Championship grouped according to their positions For further analysis of the data, the teams were divided into five groups according to their geographical location (Table 4). European players had significantly higher values in age, standing stature and body mass than the others. Table 4 Anthropometric characteristics of male handball players in the 2013 World Championship grouped according to their continents Furthermore, position-adjusted partial correlations showed that there were negative associations between the ranks of the teams and age (r = ?0.

150; p=0.002), standing stature (r = ?0.398; p=0.0001), and body mass (r = ?0.253; p=0.0001; Table 5). Table 5 Position-adjusted partial correlation coefficient among anthropometric measures and ranks of teams Discussion Previous reports have shown that body stature and morphological characteristics can determine the selection of participants in many sports (Hasan et al., 2007). To succeed in a sport discipline, it is often important to have specific anthropometric attributes (Ziv and Lidor, 2009). Handball involves frequent body contact and several high-intensity actions as part of a match play (P��voas et al., 2012).

Knowledge of the physical characteristics of handball players can provide insight into the individual factors which influence the players�� performance in the game (Hasan et al., 2007). The most striking comparison of anthropometric features of handball players in the present study was the difference in standing stature and body mass among the groups. Players in G1 had the highest standing stature and body mass when compared with players in G6, while BMI was not different across the groups (Table 2). In one study, elite (who were members of the current Spanish handball champions) and amateur handball players of the same age were compared. The elite players were taller, heavier and had a higher fat-free mass and higher BMI than the amateur players (Gorostiaga et al., 2005).

Marques and Gonzalez-Badillo (2006) reported the stature and body mass of the high-level team handball players were 184.2 �� 13.1 cm and 84.8 �� 13.1 kg, respectively (Marques and Gonzalez-Badillo, 2006). Marques et al. (2007) also reported the stature and body mass of the senior elite male team-handball players were 182.1 �� 6.7 cm and 82.5 �� 12.2 kg, respectively (Marques et al., 2007). However, the values of both studies were lower than players AV-951 in G6 of the present study. Lean mass, especially in the upper body, i.e. the body segment most involved in throwing, is the key feature of handball (Milanese et al., 2011).