Somatotypes 1

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Somatotypes 1
Somatotypes
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Somatotypes 2

• What you will learn about
• in this topic
• Body types (somatotypes)
• How somatotypes are determined
• Which somatotypes suit which sports

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Somatotypes 3
Learning objectives By the end of this
presentation you should be able to

• Understand what somatotypes are
• Describe each somatotype
• Explain why different somatotypes are suited to
  certain sports

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Somatotypes 4

• Somatotypes
• Somatotyping is a method of identifying people by
  their body shape. There are three extreme
  categories of somatotypes
• Endomorphic
• Mesomorphic
• Ectomorphic

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Somatotypes 5
A person with an endomorphic body type has a
tendency to put on fat, has a soft roundness of
shape, short tapering limbs, small bones and wide
hips.
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Somatotypes 6
A person with a mesomorphic body shape usually
has a high proportion of muscle and bone, a large
trunk, a heavy chest, broad shoulders and narrow
hips.
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Somatotypes 7
A person with an ectomorphic body shape has a
lean, fragile, delicate body, small bones and is
narrow at the shoulders and hips.
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Somatotypes 8
Each somatotype has a 1 to 7 score where 1 is low
and 7 is high. Each person is measured to find
their personal mark. A non-sportsperson may have
the following combination 4, 3, 3 (4 medium
endomorphy, 3 low mesomorphy, 3 low
ectomorphy).
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Somatotypes 9
There are very few people with the extreme
examples of these body type. Most people have a
combination of all three. Sportspeople generally
have more mesomorphic (muscle) and ectomorphic
(thinness) than endomorphic (fatness)
characteristics.
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Somatotypes 10
A top-class sport, however, will attract the best
extremes of body type suitable to that game.
For example, basketball will attract players who
are all very tall and thin with sinewy muscles,
falling into the ectomorph/mesomorph category.
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Somatotypes 11
Jockeys, swimmers and marathon runners fall into
the ectomorph (relatively thin) category. A
centre in netball, a gymnast and a sprinter are
all mesmorph types (relatively muscled). A prop
in rugby would be the mesomorph/endomorph type.
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Somatotypes 12
Task What would you say is your
somatotype? Make a poster to show the different
types of bodies sportspeople have. Use photos
from magazines or the Internet to illustrate a
range of types.
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Somatotypes 13

• Exam questions
• What somatotype do sumo wrestlers tend towards?
  Explain your answer.
• Using a sporting example, describe what an
  extreme mesomorphic person would look like.

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Somatotypes 14

• What you have learnt
• in this topic
• Body types (somatotypes)
• How somatotypes are shown
• Which somatotypes suit which sports

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Somatotypes 15
Learning objectives You should now be able to

• Understand what somatotypes are
• Describe each somatotype
• Explain why different somatotypes are suited to
  certain sports