Why being taller gives you edge on sports field

TALLEr people may have the upper hand when playing sports.

Scientists say loftier people are better are judging distances, so they can more accurately identify the position of items such as balls from afar.

It is not just their elevated viewpoint which improves accuracy, the uS study found. Taller people’s spatial perception was still better when seated and shorter people on boxes.

Experts think they may have developed the advantage as they are used to looking at the ground from further away. It could explain why so many successful sports stars are tall, including England footballer Peter Crouch at 6ft 7ins and tennis champs Andy Murray and Venus Williams, 6ft 3ins and 6ft 1ins respectively.

researchers at ohio State university asked 12 short people and 12 tall people to predict distances in three different settings: full light, pitchblack with a green LED light as a target and darkness with dimly-lit red LED markers on the floor or ceiling.

Volunteers were briefly shown a green target light between three and 20 metres away. They were then asked to walk to where the light had been.

Taller people were far better at predicting how far away the target was in the pitch-black. Both groups were more precise with clues such as red LED markers on the floor or ceiling.

Study author Prof Teng Leng ooi said taller people may have developed better awareness as they were used to seeing the ground from ‘a higher vantage point’. She added: ‘We don’t float, we don’t fly, so maybe through evolution our brains have taken this factor into account.’