Basketball Handball Soccer X [+ or -] SD X [+ or -] SD X [+ or -] SD Endomorphic 2.8 0.9 3.3 1.2 2.4 0.7 Mesomorphic 4.7 1.2 6.0 1.4 5.4 1.0
Ectomorphic 3.0 1.0 2.0 0.9 2.4 0.7
A distri bution of somatopoints centered between the mesomorphic and
ectomorphic components is reported with a mean somatotype of 2.3-3.3-3.4.
A study conducted by Del Vecchio (10) in Rio Grande do Sul with gymnasts of three different categories: pre-infant (9 to 10 yrs), juveniles (11 to 15 yrs), and adults (>16 yrs old) found higher means for the
ectomorphic component in the first two categories and for the mesomorphic component in the adult category.
Similar deduction can be drawn considering the effect of Mayo's
ectomorphic and mesomorphic pilot transfer function on the closed-loop stability.
Knowing that an
ectomorphic type explains the slenderness of the body, the findings of the higher occurrence of foot injury in more ectomorph dancers seems somewhat surprising.
The latest high-profile cheater is the
ectomorphic cyclist Lance Armstrong, who for years publicly claimed he had never touched a performance-enhancing drug.
Therefore, anthropometrically smaller individuals with
ectomorphic body types are at higher risk of injury.
Trough multiple regression techniques it was shown that intrinsic characteristics including
ectomorphic index, gender, mass, and the body anthropometry greatly affected pressures at the seating interface during forward and backward rotations of the pelvis.
The body type of the respondents categorized assuming the body mass index showed that majority of the respondents had
ectomorphic body type (BMI value <20).
Males, then, were significantly more likely to think they looked like the
ectomorphic silhouette than were females, z=2.22, p<.05 (test for significance of a difference between two independent proportions, Bruning & Kintz, 1997).