1 TÜRKİYE PROFESYONEL LİGLERİNDE GÖREV ... - Spor Bilim

INTRODUCTION
Wrestling is considered to be one of the sports demanding the most physical
activity. Strength and endurance are necessary in successful performance and
technical skill is also needed. Grip strength may be important in wrestling. A
wrestler's grip could determine the outcome of a match. When the competition is tied
in the last 5 seconds of the match, the wrestler could desperately attempt a move and
go for points to win the match, or hang on and let the match go into overtime.
Usually he hangs on with all his might and suddenly his opponent escapes, gets one
point, and wins the match. A good grip may increase his chance of winning a match
which has gone into overtime.
The upper extremities and hand grip of subjects who engage in wrestling,
which is a sport dealing with the strength, are assumed to be powerful. In order to
establish the power of hand grip in wrestlers, which may play a role in winning a
wrestling competition, hand grip and pinch strength were compared between male
wrestlers and the sedentary university students.
MATERIALS and METHODS
Twenty-three volunteer male university students (age range19-25, mean age
22.00±1.69 years and mean body mass index 22.31±2.53) and twenty-two male
wrestlers (age range 18-27, mean age 20.27±2.49 years and mean body mass index
23.88±1.93) were tested for grip and pinch strength. The university students were
from Kahramanmaras Sutcu Imam University and the wrestlers were from
Kahramanmaras Wrestling Training Center. Subjects with pain in the shoulder, arm,
hand and cervical radiculopathy in the previous 12 months were not included.
A calibrated, Jamar dynamometer (Smith and Nephew Irwington NY 10533
USA) was used to assess grip strength at all five levels. A pinch gauge (PG-30, B&L
Engineering Santa Fe, CA) was used to assess key, tip and palmar pinch. Both the
dynamometer and pinch gauge were reset to zero prior to each reading and were read
to the nearest increment of the two scale divisions. The American Society of Hand
Therapists recommendation for testing both grip and pinch strengths was followed
(Mathiowetz et al. 1984). Subjects were seated comfortably on a chair without
armrests. The shoulder was adducted and neutrally rotated, the elbow at 90° flexion,
and forearm and wrist in neutral position. Standard verbal encouragement in the
same tone of voice (“squeeze the handle/button as hard as possible”) was used during
the measurements was used. Three measurements of each grip and pinch were
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