A COMPARATIVE STUDY ON PHYSICAL FITNESS VARIABLES BETWEEN DIFFERENT PLAYING POSITIONS OF SOCCER PLAYERS

In the present study, an attempt has been made to compare physical fitness variables between offensive and defensive soccer players at Rampurhat sub divisional soccer players of West Bengal, India. For this study, different physical fitness variables (Muscular Strength- Hand dynamometer, Muscular Endurance- 1-min. Sit-up Test, flexibility- Sit and reach test, Cardio respiratory endurance- Queen college step test, Speed-50yard dash, Agility-Shuttle run, Leg explosive strength-Standing board jump, and balance- Stork Stand Test) was applied to soccer players to compare their physical fitness performance. Total number of 50 soccer players was selected randomly for this study. The total number of subjects classified as 25 offensive players and rest of 25 was defensive player’s .Their age ranged from 18 to 25 years based on their birth records. The data was computed and analyzed by using descriptive statistics like mean, standard deviation and t-test in order to compare the significant difference between offensive and defensive soccer players. The result reveals that offensive soccer players are comparatively better than defensive soccer players in speed and agility, where as defensive soccer players are superior to offensive soccer players in muscular strength and balance.