Height in sports

Height can significantly influence success in sports, depending on how the design of the sport is linked to factors that are height-biased due to physics and biology. The balance of the intricate array of links will determine the degree to which height plays a role in success, if any.

Advantages for below average height include:)

Advantages for above average height include:

Height can be both helpful and detrimental in wrestling. Since taller people have more bone mass, they will generally be slightly weaker than shorter people in the same weight class. This difference is made up in part by their longer arms, which allow them a longer reach and easier cradle. Long legs are detrimental in that they can easily be attacked by a lolly (shot). They do, however, assist in performing some actions and positions such as throwing, sprawling to counter a takedown or riding legs. The heights of amateur wrestlers vary greatly with successful athletes being as short as Sushil Kumar at 1.65 m (5 ft 5 in) and as tall as Alexander Karelin at 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in).

In artistic gymnastics, it is advantageous to be shorter. A lower center of gravity can give an athlete better balance. A smaller athlete may also have an easier time manipulating their body in the air.

In association football, or soccer, a player's height may somewhat determine the position that they play; however, people of all heights have an equal opportunity to excel professionally at the sport. Goalkeepers, centre backs and "target" heading forwards tend to be taller, while players in wide and attacking positions tend to be shorter. A study of the greatest male players in history showed that the distribution of heights approximated the average man and, when also looking at the typical weight distribution, an estimated 95% of the world's population would fall into the body type distribution of great footballers. A sample of reasonably select players from ages 11–18 in the United States tended to approximate the height distribution of the population. However, there is an overwhelming tendency for the 11-most picked players in a squad to be shorter than their teammates, which could suggest a bias in the scouting system.

For wide and attacking positions, the players are generally relatively shorter. Many of the world class players have been shorter than average and in many cases gained an advantage from their low centre of gravity. Examples include Lorenzo Insigne 1.63 m (5 ft 4 in), Sebastian Giovinco, Bernard, Ludovic Giuly 1.64 m (5 ft 4 ¹⁄₂ in), Diego Maradona, Marco Verratti, Aaron Lennon 1.65 m (5 ft 5 in), Shaun Wright-Phillips 1.66 m (5 ft 5 ¹⁄₂ in), Romário, Pedro, Mathieu Valbuena 1.67 m (5 ft 5 ¹⁄₂ in), Roberto Carlos, Paul Scholes, Claude Makélélé, N'Golo Kanté, Santi Cazorla 1.68 m (5 ft 6 in), Alexis Sánchez, Garrincha 1.69 m (5 ft 6 ¹⁄₂ in), Lionel Messi, Xavi, Philipp Lahm, Franck Ribéry, David Silva 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in), Andrés Iniesta, Philippe Coutinho 1.71 m (5 ft 7 ¹⁄₂ in), Douglas Costa, Robinho 1.72 m (5 ft 7 ¹⁄₂ in), Pelé, Eden Hazard, Sergio Agüero and Michael Owen 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in). However, height is considered advantageous for forwards who aim to score with their heads. Forwards who are particularly noted for their strength in the air include Lacina Traoré 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in), Jan Koller, Nikola Žigić 2.02 m (6 ft 7 ¹⁄₂ in), Fernando Llorente, Andy Carroll 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) and Peter Crouch 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in). Many of the world's best forwards and midfielders are taller than average, while still possessing a high all round level of technical ability, such as Zlatan Ibrahimović 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in), Nemanja Matić 1.94 m (6 ft 4 ¹⁄₂ in), Luca Toni, Patrick Vieira 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in), Sócrates 1.92 m (6 ft 3 ¹⁄₂ in), Paul Pogba 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in), Ruud Gullit, Frank Rijkaard, Romelu Lukaku 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in), Didier Drogba, Yaya Touré, Adriano, Sergio Busquets 1.89 m (6 ft 2 ¹⁄₂ in), Thierry Henry, Eric Cantona, Robert Pirès, Michael Ballack, Marco van Basten, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Robin van Persie 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Karim Benzema 1.87 m (6 ft 1 ¹⁄₂ in), Kaká, Rivaldo, Fernando Torres, Thomas Müller 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in), Zinedine Zidane, Cristiano Ronaldo, Robert Lewandowski and Gabriel Batistuta 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in), with their height being seen as an added bonus for their heading and physical ability, which adds to their completeness, it is seen as something desirable in modern top-level football forwards and midfielders.

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