Abstract The athlete's ability to achieve the maximum amplitude of movement in certain sports can be crucial for achieving a top result. Most theorists consider flexibility to be one of the essential motor skills of humans. Flexibility is defined as the ability of the locomotor apparatus to realize movements of optimal amplitude in a certain joint. The goal of this research was to determine the differences in flexibility between football players and karate practitioners (karateka) between the ages of 12 and 14 years, in chronological order. The purpose of this paper is to determine the differences in flexibility between football players and karateka based on the obtained results, and to further determine whether and within which variables of flexibility karateka are more dominant than football players. This research will complete the findings and fill the knowledge gaps that exist about flexibility. The importance of this research is reflected in that it will gather relevant information about the status and differences in flexibility between football players and karateka within the specified age group. The research was carried out on a sample of 40 respondents who make up two subsamples, football players (n=20; age 12.70 ± 0.86) and karateka (n=20; age 12.95 ± 0.82). Tests were applied to determine height and body mass, as well as to determine flexibility (10 variables). The obtained results were processed in the program package IBM SPSS Statistics 26.0. Descriptive parameters were calculated for all collected data, normality of distribution was determined, while differences in tests were determined by T-test for independent samples. The results showed that in terms of body height and mass, there are no statistically significant differences between young football players and karateka, nor in the ability to lower a stick behind the back (MFLISK). In all other flexibility tests (deep front bend off an elevated platform/block, deep bend with legs apart, side split, active straight leg raise while lying on the back (degrees) for both legs, leg raises while lying on the chest, leg raise while lying on the side) a statistically significant difference was obtained at the significance level of .99% (p ≤ 0.01), and all in favor of karateka. We can conclude that the level of flexibility is higher in karate practitioners compared to football players, which was to be expected. The main discovery of this study is the existence of statistically significant differences in almost all flexibility variables, where better values were shown in favor of karatekas, except for the back stick raise test, where no statistically significant difference was found between football players and karateka. The research can serve other researchers who will deal with similar issues, and the findings of this research will complete the mosaic of research regarding flexibility in karate and football. The obtained results will benefit sports teams, researchers, trainers and physical education professors, as a relevant indicator of the importance and significance of flexibility development and flexibility training in sports. Key words: flexibility, football, karate,

Background: It is crucial to evaluate children’s motor coordination and strength to identify possible motor deficits on the right or left side of the body. However, whether a distinction exists in children aged 3–6 must be clarified. The goal of the current research was to investigate the differences in motor skills between preschool boys and girls, dominant and non-dominant hands or legs, in children of preschool age. (2) Methods: The present study was conducted on a sample of children (boys, n = 52; girls, n = 52; age range, 3–6 years). Three motor tests evaluated on both sides of the body served as the sample of factors used to measure athletic performance. Leg tapping (15 s), hand tapping (15 s), and a maximal hand grip strength (HGS) test kg. (3) Results: The study’s findings show no statistically significant variations in preschool boys’ and girls’ motor skills. Preschool girls had better results in the right leg tapping than preschool boys t (98) = 2.08; p ≤ 0.04. We found a significant difference between genders aged 3–4, 4–5, and 5–6 years. No correlation was found between the girls’ three variables and age. A small but significant positive correlation was found between dominant hand tapping and age r2 (52) = 0.21; p ≤ 0.01, dominant leg tapping and age r2 (52) = 0.20; p ≤ 0.01 and dominant HGS and age r2 (52) = 0.17; p ≤ 0.01. No noticeable differences were identified when comparing the dominant side with the non-dominant side in each group. The results show that most children prefer to use their right hand and right leg as their dominant sides. (4) Conclusion: The authors of this study focus on the functional (frequency of movements) and dynamic (differences in muscle strength between body sides) elements of asymmetry. Future studies should examine the influence of morphology on performance with the dominant or non-dominant body side.

The aim of this research is to identify the motivational structure of recreational exercisers and to investigate differences in motivation with respect to gender, ie to determine the hierarchy of motives for which they choose recreational exercise. This research shows that the strongest motivation for recreational exercise is maintaining and improving health, and certainly relaxation. After them, the most important motivation is socializing and meeting new people, and improving and maintaining physical ability. The research also showed that there are very small differences in the motives for exercise in relation to the age of the respondents, and they are reflected in good looks and fun, while relaxation and relaxation and improvement and maintenance of physical ability are equally important for all ages.

Penalties in judo result from negative actions that are not in line with judo combat regulations. The aim of the research was to determine the differences in penalties between winner and non-winner competitors in judo. A total of 1799 (men=1133 and women=666) matches with penalties were evaluated during 2017, 2018 and 2019 World Judo Championships. The variables were expressed as proportions and compared with the Chi-Square test with pairwise Z-tests. The ratio of receiving the first and second shido was the same in men and women athletes ( p >.05), but it was different for weight categories ( p .05), the ratio of forbidden actions in the first and second shido differed ( p <.05). The difference in the penalty ratios in winner and non-winner athletes, especially the difference in forbidden actions leading to first and second shido may reflect some tactical differences. The results of this research can significantly contribute to the understanding of the significance of judo penalties both in training and in competition, as well as to the further study of judo penalties.

This research is aimed to determine the differences in the racing performances of elite European and Latin American footballers. The research was conducted on a sample of N = 157 top football players, aged 19 to 35, who played all 90 minutes in the first round of the group stage of the competition at the 2018 World Cup. Respondents were classified into two groups, where group I (N = 103) consisted of football teams from Europe, and group II (N = 54), consisted of teams from Latin America. The obtained data showed that 8 out of 13 variables have the characteristic of heterogeneity with a higher value of variance than the arithmetic mean. The results of the T-test showed that only 4 of 13 variables had statistically significant differences. Footballers from European national teams are on average taller than Latin American footballers by just over 3 cm. European footballers had a 4% greater (p> 0.05) total distance traveled, distance in the first and second half of the game than Latin American footballers.

The aim of the study was to determine the differences in ventilation parameters between boys and girls in the 10-15 year age group (aged 10-15). The study was conducted on a sample of N = 1857 subjects divided into 2 subunits taken from the boys (n = 968) and girls (n = 889) from the area of the City of Mostar. The sample variables consisted of 3 variables for the assessment of anthropometric measures, 24 variables were used for the evaluation of the ventilation parameters using Spirovit SP1 of the company Schiller AG. Results processing was performed in SPSS 21.0. To determine quantitative differences between groups, a canonical discriminatory analysis was applied. A discriminatory analysis found that there are statistically significant quantitative differences between groups of boys and girls on a global level. One function is isolated which explains 100% of the total variance and has a statistically significant high value (Can.Corr.=.948). The value of Wilk’s lambda is low (.101) indicating high discrimination between groups. In quantitative terms, at the multivariate level, the greatest discrimination between groups in an isolated function is the variables of the Tiffen index (FEV1/FVCPRED), FEF50PRED, FEF75PRED and the percentage of the Tiffene index for respondents (FEV1/FVC%). This is also supported by the value of the centroid position in an isolated discriminatory function, where we can see the great distance between the centroid that is represented by groups of boys and girls in the space.

Freestyle wrestling for women is characterised as complex polystructural acyclic movement activity of high intensity. The aim of this research is to determine the differences in performance between winners and defeated female cadet freestyle wrestlers at European championship for Cadets, held in Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina) in 2010.  The research is based on the analysis of 415 wrestling techniques performed successfully, out of which the female cadet winners have achieved n= 330 (Standing position n= 203, Parterre position n= 127), while the defeated ones achieved n=85 techniques (Standing position n= 64, Parterre position n= 21). The comparison between the winners and the defeated female cadets has been based on several performance indicators by the use of notational analysis of video recordings. Wilcoxon test confirms the differences in performances between winners and defeated female cadet wrestlers in regards to the Standing position (p<.001), Parterre position (p<.001), scored points in the Standing position (p<.001), in the Parterre position (p<.001), and for the most of individual wrestling techniques from Standing and Parterre position, in which case the Take Down (p<.001 )in Standing position technique is the most dominant among the winners, and a turn-over by twisting the opponent with an arm and head (p<.001) is the most dominant in Parterre position. The results indicate the differences in the performances between the winners and defeated cadets, which can assist in planning and programming training processes, but as well help in further analysis of different wrestling styles.

Background Gripping (kumi kata) constitutes a very important segment of judo fights and fist contact in said fights, based on which the opponent is controlled and dominated during the fight. The goal of this research is the knowledge about differences in gripping configurations between male and female cadets during the execution of throws at a competition. Material & Methods: The analysis included 470 gripping configurations of male cadets and 350 gripping configurations of female cadets at the 2008 European Judo Championship, held in Sarajevo. For the purpose of establishing differences in frequencies, a Chi-square test with a statistical significance of p≤0.05 was used. Results: By analysing the application of different gripping configurations during the execution of throws among male and female cadets, statistically important differences were identified (p<0.05). Male cadets dominate in the same grip and sleeve end grip, whereas female cadets dominate in the opposite gripping configuration. Sukui nage is the most frequent technique in the case of male cadets, from the same, 11.3% and opposite grip, 6.0%, and in the case of female cadets, from the same grip, 6.0%. The ippon seoi nage throw technique is a technique that was mostly used by both groups (6.4% – 5.4%) in the case of the sleeve end grip, whereas the o uchi gari technique 6.3% was mostly used by female cadets in the opposite grip. Conclusions: A well-developed effort to establish a grip may be one of the key factors in the final results of the fight. By learning the different configurations of grips and techniques that can be applied, the contestants have better possibilities of succeeding in competitions.