Background: Football is a game in which anthropometric characteristics are important factors for specific player positions, where morphological characteristics differ in relation to the competitive level and the position in the game. Body composition is an important indicator of the physical fitness and general health of athletes so today its often discussed in scientific literature. The aim of the research was to determine the differences in the anthropometric characteristics of the professional football players in relation to the player's position and to determine their importance in the game. Material: Twenty-nine male football players of the national team of Serbia participated in the research, in which the body height, weight and Body mass index were measured. Results: The results of the study indicate that statistically significant differences in body height and body weight were recorded between goalkeepers and midfielders (p <0.01) and goalkeepers and attackers (p <0.05) in favor of goalkeepers, while no statistically significant differences were recorded in the Body Mass Index. The lowest height, weight and BMI were recorded in the midfielders. Conclusions: Based on the results of the research it can be concluded that the morphological characteristics have a vital role in determining the success of athletes. Football coaches can use the results of this study as a means to better understand and interpret anthropometric characteristics and their importance in relation to the gaming position. The acquaintance of noticed differences could improve the training process as well as the selection at the early age.

Background and Study Aim. Athletic jumps are specific cyclically-acyclic movements that despite the good performance of the techniques require from competitors a high level of motor, specific-motor and functional abilities. The aim of this study was to examine the response effect of vertical and horizontal plyometric training on explosive capacity and kinetic variables in long jump athletes. Material and Methods. The participants of this study were twenty professional jumpers (22.5 ± 4.2 years; 178.4 ± 9.8 cm; 70.3 ± 7.6 kg) who were divided into two groups: experimental (plyometric training) and control (standard training). They participated in the last track and field championship in country, moreover, three of them participated in the last Asian games, and one athlete participated in the world track and field championship. The experiments were conducted on June-July 2019 in twenty professional athletes. All tests were performed after a standard warm up protocol. The place of camera was always determined wisely around the jumping field to attain best photography. Organizing and controlling the imaging and motor analysis processes were done by a biomechanics expert. Results. Post training results in experimental group showed more improvement in 30 m sprint, vertical jump, horizontal velocity at take-off, and long jump completion, comparing the control group. Significant between group differences in all variables were detected post training. No significant post training improvements in flight time and take off duration were reported in control group. Conclusion. Vertical and horizontal plyometric training protocol was shown to be more effective in promoting improvement in explosive capacity than kinetic variables.

Background and Study Aim. Aerobic training is effective manner of exercising aimed at improving cardio-respiratory fitness of young people. However, its effects to the elderly population (over the age of 60), depending on characteristics of the participant (gender, health status, lifestyle, etc.), is still unclear. Aim of this research is systematic overview of the available literature dealing with the topic of effects of aerobic training to cardio-respiratory fitness of the elderly population over the age of 60, depending of gender (male/female), BMI (overweight/normal weight), lifestyle (active/sedentary), health status (diabetes/hypertension/metabolic syndrome). Material and methods: Total number of papers with published research results which met the criteria was 32. Walking is effective manner of exercising which influences improvement of maximum oxygen consumption (mean value: ±SD:12.91±7.40%). Introduction of activities with greater impact (bicycle and jogging) provides more effect to the cardio-respiratory fitness (mean value: ±SD:14.28±7.48%). Results: Aerobic training intensity level (moderate vs. high) makes no significant difference to the adaptive response of the cardio-respiratory fitness in elderly population. Training in duration of 6 weeks may significantly influence increase in maximum oxygen consumption, but longer training duration, however, has better effect. Endurance training has similar effects to improvement of cardio-respiratory fitness in both men and women. On the other hand, it seems that active people have lower adaptive response in comparison to sedentary people (8.3% vs. 18.84%). Effect is similar between overweight and normal weight participants (18.48% vs. 8.6%). Positive influence of aerobic training was also observed in participants with hypertension, metabolic system and diabetes type 2. Conclusion: Results clearly suggest benefits of aerobic training on cardio-respiratory fitness of elderly population. The effect may, however, vary depending of duration, type of activity, as well as characteristics of the sample.

Background: The physical education of students who have a deviation in their state of health requires a joint effort from teachers and doctors. Aim: The aim of the study was to substantiate the necessity of swimming classes as an effective means of physical rehabilitation in students with health disorders within the physical education curriculum classes. Methods: Students with low-level somatic health (54 students) were grouped into the Basic Group (BG, 27 students) and the Control Group (CG, 27 students). The Basic Group students were offered special swimming classes aimed at their physical rehabilitation. At the beginning of the study and after 24 training classes the authors assessed the somatic health, physical and mental endurance, and adaptation abilities of the autonomic nervous system. Results: Implementation of the method into the curriculum of the BG students resulted in a significant improvement (by 48.1%) of their somatic health. A reliable re-distribution of the students with “poor” and “lower than average” somatic health to the “average” and “higher than average” health group was noted (p < 0.05). The students’ physical characteristics improved by 36.4%. Conclusion: The conducted research proved the necessity of using sectional swimming activities as a means of physical rehabilitation of students with low health.

Purpose: to determine the most significant kinematic indicators in the sports selection of beginner shot putters. Material and Methods: This study was carried out on a sample of 9 students at the fourth stage of the competition in Division 1, which took place in the 2017/2018 academic year at the Faculty of Physical Education of Maysan University. The following kinematic (biomechanical) parameters were analyzed: the angle of release of the nucleus, the velocity of release, the height of the point of ejection of the nucleus and the speed of swing. The correlation coefficients were determined between the kinematic indicators and the result in the shot put, as well as the regression equation for the dependence of the result in the shot put on the knematic indicators. The data obtained in the study were presented in the form of the arithmetic mean, standard deviation, median, skewness coefficient, Pearson's correlation coefficient, analysis of variance and linear regression, which included the contribution coefficients of each analyzed indicator, standard error, reliability of the regression equation as a whole, and reliability of the coefficients contribution to the shot put result of each kinematic exponent. Results. It has been shown that the swing speed has the greatest influence on the result in the shot put among beginner athletes. The swing speed, shot angle, shot speed and shot height have significant relationships with the shot put result. The multiple regression equation for the dependence of the shot put result on the swing speed, shot angle, shot height and shot point turned out to be reliable in general. However, only the swing speed has a reliable coefficient of the regression equation. The shot angle tends to be the determining factor in the shot put result. The release rate and the height of the release point have significant correlations with the shot put result, although in the regression equation they have unreliable indicators of influence on the shot put result. Conclusions. When teaching beginner shot putters, the greatest attention should be paid to the pushing swing technique, namely the swing speed. The second most important indicator is the angle of the shot put, it is recommended to use the basic prediction equation, which determines the expected results in the selection of young athletes in shot put, with high reliability of the results obtained. These characteristics are recommended to be used for evaluating young athletes, as well as in the process of training and preparing athletes for competitions.

Background and Study Aim. Team sports, basketball and handball, as well as their competitions, are very popular throughout the world. The aim of this research was evaluation and comparative analysis of the results of a vertical jump between young basketball and handball players. Material and Methods. A group of 37 participants took part in the research: 21 basketball players from the basketball club OKK ''Novi Pazar'' (age: 15.5 ± 0.5) from Novi Pazar formed the first subgroup and 16 handball players from the handball club RK ''Železničar 1949'' (age: 25.4 ± 5.8; body height = 193.5 ± 7.5 cm; body weight = 94.0 ± 7.4 kg; body mass index = 25.03 ± 2.38 kg/m2) from Niš formed the second subgroup. Explosive power of the vertical jumps was assessed by the following tests: countermovement jump, countermovement jump/arm swing, squat jump. Participants had at least 5 years of training experience and held similar acute training histories prior to study commencement, completing 4 weeks of baseline conditioning during the general preparatory phase. Participants were free of injury, illness and disease as determined by a team physician prior to study participation. Results. The results of the independent samples t-test show that there were no significant differences (p > 0.05) between basketball and handball players in all vertical jump tests. Conclusions. This article contains new information about vertical jumps of young male basketball and elite male handball players that could be extremely useful for coaches. Also, these findings suggest that basketball coaches may benefit from talents’ identification in young basketball players.