Intercorrelation of Physical Characteristics in Adolescent Football and Cricket Players

Introduction: Physical characteristics include body composition and physical fitness. Body composition measures–such as height, weight, body mass index (BMI), muscle mass, and bone mass–reflect overall physique, while physical fitness comprises agility, speed, flexibility, and dynamic balance. Adolescent athletes often develop sport-specific physical attributes based on their training. However, limited research explores the correlation between these fitness variables in adolescent cricket and football players. Aims: This study aimed to examine the intercorrelation between anthropometric and physical fitness variables among adolescent football and cricket players. It also compared physical performance variables between the two groups. Material and Methods: Thirty-nine male adolescents from football and cricket academies in Mumbai, India, participated in the study. Assessments included anthropometric measures (height, weight, BMI, bone mass, and muscle mass) and physical fitness variables (agility, speed, flexibility, and dynamic balance). Results: No significant differences were found in anthropometric variables between footballers and cricketers ( P > 0.05 for all). Footballers showed significantly better speed and dynamic balance compared to cricketers ( P < 0.05), while agility and flexibility were similar between groups. Body fat was negatively correlated with speed ( r = −0.332, P = 0.039), and height negatively correlated with agility ( r = −0.363, P = 0.023). Dynamic balance was significantly associated with height, bone mass, muscle mass, and body fat ( P < 0.05). Conclusions: Body fat showed a significant negative correlation with speed, while height correlated positively with agility. Dynamic balance was associated with height, bone mass, muscle mass, and body fat in both groups. Overall, footballers demonstrated superior performance in speed and dynamic balance compared to cricketers. The study included only male participants ( n = 39); no females were part of the sample.