What is it about?
This article is about a study that explores how athletes’ body measurements and physical performance relate to the sound characteristics of their voice. Researchers measured seven morpho-functional variables (like height, weight, body fat, leg power, jump height, pull-ups, and VO₂max) and six voice acoustic parameters (such as average pitch, lowest and highest pitch, jitter, shimmer, and harmonic-to-noise ratio) in 88 male professional athletes from Kosovo. They found that taller and heavier athletes with greater strength and endurance tended to have deeper voices (lower pitch), likely because they have longer vocal cords. However, not all voice parameters were linked to body measurements—only pitch-related features showed strong correlations. The study suggests that in the future, it might be possible to predict aspects of an athlete’s physical abilities just by analysing their voice, which could save time and resources in sports science assessments.
Featured Image
Photo by Jason Rosewell on Unsplash
Why is it important?
The present study indicates significant correlations between measured voice acoustic and morpho-functional parameters. In the cybernetic aspect, the human organism operates as a multidimensional system comprising many subsystems, strongly interrelated with each other. Good or weak function of one subsystem interferes with the functioning of other subsystems. This strong correlation between the subsystems of an organism has encouraged scientists to predict, on the basis of some morpho-functional parameters, the respective morpho-functional variables, such as body height, VO2max (maximal oxygen uptake), explosive power, age, puberty stages, etc. Significant correlations between three voice acoustic parameters (Mean Pitch, Min. Pitch, and Max. Pitch) and morpho-functional variables (body Height, body Weight, Margaria-Kalamen Power Test, Sargent Jump Test, Pull-up Test, and VO2max.abs) hypothetically allow to explore the possibilities to predict the criterion (dependent) variables. In the case of this research, the criterion (dependent) variable may be one of the variables that present explosive power, such as Margaria-Kalamen Power Test or Sargent Jump Test.
Perspectives
It’s important because it shows a potential new, non-invasive way to assess athletes’ physical abilities without needing expensive equipment or lengthy fitness tests. By finding strong links between voice pitch and key measures like height, weight, strength, and endurance, this research suggests that voice analysis could become a quick screening tool in sports science, talent identification, and even health assessments. It also adds to the scientific understanding of how body structure and function are connected to vocal characteristics, supporting the idea that the human body operates as an integrated system. This could inspire new multidisciplinary approaches in sports training, anthropology, and medical diagnostics.
PhD Agron M Rexhepi
Institute of Sports Anthropology
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Correlations between Sportsmen’s Morpho-Functional Measurements and Voice Acoustic Variables, Human Movement, January 2016, Termedia Sp. z.o.o.,
DOI: 10.1515/humo-2016-0028.
You can read the full text:
Contributors
The following have contributed to this page
