The purposes of the study were: (1) to determine the agility and leg power among Malaysian national junior netball players and (2) to determine the impact of eight-week aerobic and strength-training programme on these two variables. A total of 21 netball players from Bukit Jalil Sport School were selected as the subjects in this study. The SEMO Agility Run test was used to determine the agility level while leg power was measured using the Vertical Jump test. Pre-test and post-test results showed no significant differences in the agility and leg power level among the netball players. The mean values for the agility and leg power post-test were 12.59 (SD = 0.56) seconds and 50.24 (SD = 4.90) cm respectively. The pre-test and post-test results for different playing positions recorded the highest improvement in agility and leg power among attacker, followed by centre, and defender. Thus, the training conducted in this study was found to have improved agility and leg power marginally, especially among attacker and centre netball players.
The aim of the study was to compare the body fat percentages between Malaysian national women basketball players and netball players. Both basketball and netball players were elite players who represented Malaysia in the 1997 Southeast Asia Games in Jakarta, Indonesia and the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur. The percentage of body fat was determined by means of skinfold measurement at seven different locations. Results of the findings showed that overall, the basketball players had higher percentages of body fat than netball players. The average percentages of body fat of basketball and netball players were 19.68 ± 4.93% and 18.93 ± 4.41%, respectively. Both Malaysian national basketball and netball players' average percentage of body fat were found to be higher than the ideal average percentage of body fat range between 10-16% for female athletes in elite team sports. The players in the defence position in basketball were found to have the highest percentage of body fat (23.00%), followed by centre position players (21.62%) and attack position players (15.10%). These results differed from netball players' in similar playing positions. Among the netball players, the defence position players had the highest percentage of body fat (21.00%), followed by attack position players (18.63%), and centre position players (16.57%).
The aim of the research is to compare the physical profile between Malaysian women basketball players and netball players. The physical profile measures were height, body mass, and body fat. The subjects were divided into two groups based on their playing performance and positions. The playing performance consisted of elite/senior, junior, and reserve players. Meanwhile, the playing positions consisted of forward/attack, centre, and guard/defence. The percentage of body fat was determined by means of skinfold measurement at seven different locations. Results showed that there were significant differences in body fat percentage between basketball player and netball players (p < 0.01). The elite/senior basketball players were reported to have the lowest body fat percentage as compared to other basketball or netball players. While for the playing position, guard/defence position basketball players were reported to be the shortest and have the lowest body fat percentage as compared to other playing positions. In conclusion, Malaysian basketball players were found to have better physical or bodily advantaged in terms of playing contact sports as compared to the Malaysian netball players.