Correlation Between Leg Length and Physical Performance According to Sports Characteristics of Well-Trained Athletes

In addition to various physiological parameters that affect athletes' performance and outcomes, anthropometric variables are also related to athletic performance. In particular, the length of the lower limbs is closely associated with human mobility and stride length, making it a crucial factor in various movement-based sports. Furthermore, favorable body proportions may vary depending on the sport, and a better understanding of how body proportions affect physical performance across different levels of athletes is needed. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between leg length and physical performance by measuring body dimensions (tibia and femur length) for athletes categorized by sports characteristics and performance levels. The study involved 312 athletes from 23 sports, divided into three activity levels. Anthropometric measurements of tibia and femur length were taken, and physical performance tests, including strength, muscular endurance, cardiovascular endurance, agility, explosiveness, flexibility, and anaerobic power, were conducted in the laboratory. The relationships between variables (leg length x physical performance) were analyzed using Pearson's correlation coefficients. Leg length via activity levels was verified through one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) testing, including normality and homoscedasticity. Post hoc analysis (Tukey's HSD test) was used to compare specific differences when significance was found. Statistical significance was accepted at the 0.05 level. As a result, an increase in lower limb length was found to have a relationship with physical performance components, including power (r = 0.302, p = 0.001), agility (r = -0.289, p = 0.001), endurance capacity (r = 0.168, p = 0.005), and anaerobic peak power (r = 0.265, p = 0.001). However, in the LD group, which consisted of athletes in static sports, no significant relationship was observed between lower limb length and physical performance components. However, in the LD group, which included static sports, no significant relationship was found between lower limb length and physical performance components. These findings may serve as foundational data for athlete talent identification and performance prediction.