A 2‐Year Follow‐Up Study of Changes in Handgrip Strength in Young Athletes Playing With and Without Gripping Sports Equipment

Objectives This study compared changes in handgrip strength (HGS) over 2 years in young athletes participating in two sports: kendo, which involves gripping equipment during play, and soccer, which does not. Methods One hundred eleven young athletes (54 kendo boys [mean age at baseline: 10.1 ± 1.7 years] and 57 soccer boys [mean age at baseline: 10.3 ± 1.8 years]) underwent three HGS measurements, spaced 1 year apart (Test 1, Test 2, and Test 3). The Q–Q plot indicated some violations of normality; therefore, we used a robust repeated measures ANOVA function in R. Results We found evidence for a localized interaction effect ( p = 0.02), with a sport difference in the change from Test 1 (baseline) to Test 3 and Test 2 to Test 3 (kendo > soccer). There was no statistically significant main effect of sport ( p = 0.06); however, kendo was on average 2.4 (95% CI: −0.08, 4.9) kg stronger than soccer athletes. When collapsing across groups, HGS increased from Test 1 to Test 2 by 1.9 (1.5, 2.3) kg, and from Test 2 to Test 3 by 2.8 (2.1, 3.6) kg. Conclusions Sports that involve gripping tools in conjunction with natural movements may help improve HGS during the developmental period.