Table 2 Body composition and musculoskeletal morphology of the kicking leg between inexperienced and experienced players for AFL and AFLW players

General

Age (y)

19.7 ± 1.5

21.9 ± 1.3

0.002*

1.57^d

23.8 ± 4.5

27.3 ± 3.2

0.040*

0.90^c

Height (cm)

183 ± 9.6

188 ± 6.9

0.227

0.54

168 ± 6.8

171 ± 6.3

0.258

0.49

Body mass (kg)

78 ± 7.5

86 ± 7.8

0.055

0.98

66 ± 7.5

65 ± 6.2

0.809

0.10

Playing Year (y)

1.5 (1.0)

4.0 (1.0)

0.001*

3.95^e

2.0 (1.0)

5.0 (0.0)

< 0.001*

5.64^e

DXA

WBLH LSTM (kg)

61.2 ± 6.90

68.7 ± 6.46

0.025*

1.12^c

46.4 ± 3.82

47.7 ± 4.86

0.518

0.30

WBLH FM (kg)

10.5 ± 1.75

10.1 ± 1.99

0.082

0.87

14.0 ± 4.27

11.88 ± 2.71

0.106

0.70

WBLH LSTM%

82.4 ± 2.13

84.1 ± 2.04

0.103

0.82

74.8 ± 4.37

77.4 ± 3.34

0.124

0.67

WBLH FM%

14.1 ± 2.01

12.3 ± 2.06

0.082

0.87

22.0 ± 4.60

19.2 ± 3.54

0.106

0.70

LMI (kg/m²)

19.2 ± 1.39

20.5 ± 0.99

0.019*

1.10^c

17.6 ± 1.26

17.3 ± 0.89

0.453

0.31

Appendicular LMI (kg/m²)

9.12 (1.35)

9.99 (0.78)

0.058

0.88

7.86 ± 0.70

7.91 ± 0.55

0.866

0.07

Total Leg LSTM (kg)

11.69 (1.98)

12.30 (2.45)

0.069

0.90

8.61 ± 0.69

8.91 ± 1.07

0.451

0.33

Total Leg FM%

15.4 ± 2.13

13.2 ± 2.15

0.048*

1.00^c

26.4 ± 5.40

24.1 ± 4.62

0.276

0.47

Thigh LSTM (kg)

8.38 ± 0.82

9.23 ± 1.05

0.087

0.90

6.18 ± 0.51

6.38 ± 0.80

0.482

0.30

Thigh FM%

15.7 ± 2.64

13.4 ± 2.06

0.037*

0.99^c

27.3 ± 5.30

25.1 ± 4.36

0.285

0.45

Shank LSTM (kg)

2.70 ± 0.35

2.99 ± 0.41

0.147

0.76

2.00 ± 0.24

2.15 ± 0.31

0.197

0.54

Shank FM%

14.1 ± 3.16

12.5 ± 3.29

0.319

0.49

25.3 ± 7.75

22.7 ± 6.59

0.388

0.37

pQCT

Tibial length (mm)

413 ± 22.3

426 ± 21.6

0.234

0.577

367 ± 13.4

377 ± 22.0

0.206

0.57

4% Bone Mass (g)

4.95 ± 0.58

5.46 ± 0.66

0.114

0.81

3.87 ± 0.43

3.80 ± 0.50

0.731

0.15

14% Bone Mass (g)

3.33 ± 0.25

3.69 ± 0.38

0.044*

1.12^c

2.80 ± 0.27

2.95 ± 0.41

0.340

0.42

38% Bone Mass (g)

4.81 ± 0.57

5.29 ± 0.48

0.056

0.92

3.94 ± 0.29

4.16 ± 0.62

0.298

0.47

Total Tibial Mass (g)

4.36 ± 0.43

4.81 ± 0.47

0.051

1.00

3.54 ± 0.32

3.64 ± 0.47

0.563

0.25

4% Bone Area (mm²)

1294 ± 112

1414 ± 223

0.225

0.68

1096 ± 96.3

1116 ± 125

0.677

0.18

14% Bone Area (mm²)

537 ± 52.5

617 ± 83.8

0.041*

1.15^c

479 ± 51.1

502 ± 59.2

0.354

0.40

38% Bone Area (mm²)

524 ± 60.7

583 ± 59.1

0.048*

0.99^c

431 (31.8)

429 (77.6)

0.286

0.50

66% Bone Area (mm²)

891 (98.3)

982 (126)

0.025*

1.21^d

703 ± 72.6

782 ± 94.7

0.040*

0.94^c

4% vBMD (mg/cm³)

385 ± 59.3

390 ± 44.1

0.833

0.09

354 ± 38.6

341 ± 25.8

0.325

0.41

14% vBMD (mg/cm³)

623 ± 54.7

603 ± 64.2

0.520

0.32

586 ± 48.0

588 ± 52.8

0.930

0.04

38% vBMD (mg/cm³)

918 ± 41.5

908 ± 34.6

0.588

0.25

920 ± 34.9

918 ± 28.0

0.919

0.04

Total vBMD (mg/cm³)

642 ± 39.7

634 ± 38.6

0.671

0.20

620 ± 34.0

616 ± 27.7

0.739

0.14

Total CortD (mg/cm³)

1122 (25.0)

1116 (33.5)

0.605

0.58

1140 ± 13.9

1141 ± 18.4

0.808

0.11

Total CortTh (mm)

4.89 ± 0.45

4.99 ± 0.38

0.617

0.23

4.17 ± 0.32

4.25 ± 0.40

0.615

0.22

Total PeriC (mm)

81.5 ± 3.34

86.7 ± 4.59

0.020*

1.28^d

74.8 (4.55)

76.1 (5.75)

0.293

0.47

Total EndoC (mm)

50.8 ± 4.0

55.3 ± 4.90

0.054

1.02

49.2 ± 3.08

50.6 ± 3.58

0.342

0.41

SSIPOL (mm³)

2226 ± 257

2576 ± 345

0.034*

1.15^c

1725 (262)

1737 (376)

0.275

0.51

FL.Rel (N/kg)

68.6 ± 9.28

69.9 ± 6.44

0.726

0.15

58.6 ± 4.49

65.7 ± 10.9

0.048*

0.85^c

Tibial Robustness

1.96 ± 0.10

2.13 ± 0.24

0.022*

0.92^c

1.84 ± 0.12

1.89 ± 0.14

0.408

0.38

66% Muscle Area (mm²)

7675 ± 1318

8715 ± 1084

0.069

0.86

6998 ± 888

6813 ± 751

0.595

0.22