A Classification of Fitness Components in Elite Alpine Skiers: A Cluster Analysis

Gabriella Penitente (), Hayden A. Young, William A. Sands and Jeni R. McNeal
Additional contact information
Gabriella Penitente: Academy of Sport and Physical Activity, Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield S10 2BP, UK
Hayden A. Young: Academy of Sport and Physical Activity, Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield S10 2BP, UK
William A. Sands: US Ski and Snowboard Association, Park City, UT 84060, USA
Jeni R. McNeal: Department of Physical Education, Health and Recreation, Eastern Washington University, Cheney, WA 99004-2431, USA

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 10, 1-14

Abstract: The current study is an exploratory, secondary data analysis of a selection of physiological and biomechanical fitness components used to assess elite alpine skiers. The present study will provide new knowledge that can be used to aid training prescription and talent identification. A hierarchical cluster analysis was used to identify groups of variables that are crucial for elite alpine skiers and differences based on sex and competition level. The key findings of the study are the patterns that emerged in the generated dendrograms. Physiological and biomechanical fitness components are differentiated in the dendrograms of male and female world-cup-level alpine skiers, but not in non-world-cup athletes. Components related to the aerobic and anaerobic capacity tightly cluster in male athletes at world cup and non-world-cup level, and female world cup athletes. Lower body explosive force production appears to be more critical in male world cup athletes than female world cup athletes. More research is needed into the importance of isometric strength in the lower body. Future research should use larger sample sizes and consider other alpine ski demographics.

Keywords: winter sports; aerobic capacity; anaerobic capacity; explosive force; performance profile; dendrogram (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/10/5841/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/10/5841/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:10:p:5841-:d:1148716

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().