Hierarchical Factorial Structure of Flexibility in College Male Swimmers

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine a structure of flexibility in swimmers from the viewpoint of the factor analysis. Twenty-four test items which were based upon the hypothesis given by Nicks and Fleishman were selected and administered to the 153 college male swimmers. ROTOHIST technique developed by Zavara was applied to an unrotated factor pattern matrix produced by the principal factor solution, and then, the hierarchical factorial structure of flexibility was investigated. As a result, 12 factors were extracted, which did explain more than 85 per cent of the total variance; and according to the aforementioned technique, two factors with the highest eigenvalues were rotated at first and interpreted. And then, each of the rest of the factors corresponding to the next highest eigenvalue was added in due order to the previously rotated factors and again interpreted. This procedure was thus repeated in the same manner until after the eleventh rotation. While the rotated factors were interpreted at each rotation level, they were synthesized and arranged also at the whole level. Eventually, the authors drew a tree diagram. The tree diagram shows that a general flexibility exists and it may part such two ability areas as static flexibility and dynamic flexibility (i.e., swimming speed), just as Nicks and Fleishman hypothesized in their paper; however, the investigated structure of flexibility was somewhat different from theirs. That is, it was inferred that flexibiliy area of motor ability does not simply consist of some subdivided flexibility areas that were pointed out by Nicks and Fleishman, but of more complex domains that were subdivided and/or partly integrated as the degree of complexity of factors decreases.