Volleyball is a team sport with high physical demands, especially in terms of muscle strength, explosive power, agility, and endurance (Bojanic, Bjelica, & Georgijev, 2016). At the competitive level, volleyball athletes are required to perform explosive jumps, quick changes of direction, and repeated technical actions during matches of uncertain duration. International literature indicates that volleyball performance is significantly influenced by specific physical capacities, particularly lower-body and upper-body muscle strength, which are directly related to smashing, blocking, and serving abilities (Sheppard et al., 2020; Kitamura et al., 2020; Radu, Făgăraş, & Graur, 2015; Wang et al., 2025). Additionally, agility and change of direction ability are reported as important predictors in defensive responses and game transitions, distinguishing elite and non-elite athletes (de la Rubia et al., 2025).

A number of empirical studies have examined the relationship between physical condition components and volleyball performance. Research on young volleyball athletes shows that leg muscle strength, explosive power, and aerobic endurance contribute significantly to movement efficiency and technical performance during matches (López-Serrano et al., 2024; Keoliya et al., 2024). Other studies report that upper body strength has a positive relationship with hitting accuracy and power, while agility plays an important role in passing and defense quality (Lidor & Ziv, 2010; Duarte et al., 2019). However, most previous studies still focus on descriptive approaches or variable correlation analysis (Anza, Denis, & Silva, 2013; Farley et al., 2020; Khoirudin et al., 2023; Olivar et al., 2025; Raga & lasma, 2025), while the application of confirmatory factor analysis to test the suitability of physical condition construct structures in an integrated measurement model is still relatively limited, especially in the context of volleyball clubs in Indonesia.

Based on this gap, this study aims to identify and validate the dominant physical condition factors that influence volleyball skills in athletes of the Bahana Muda Club in Malang City using Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). The application of CFA allows testing the suitability between the theoretical model of physical condition and empirical data of athletes, as well as providing estimates of the contribution of each physical component simultaneously. The novelty of this study lies in the use of CFA to validate physical condition constructs in the context of local volleyball clubs in Indonesia, an approach that is still rarely used in national volleyball research. The findings of this study are expected to provide a scientific basis for coaches in prioritizing evidence-based training programs and enriching the international literature on the physical performance of volleyball athletes.

This study aims to identify the physical condition components that contribute to volleyball skills in athletes of the Bahana Muda Club. Descriptive statistics for each physical condition variable are presented in Table 1. In general, the mean values and data distribution show reasonable variation in accordance with the characteristics of the physical tests used. All variables are reported according to their respective units of measurement, namely seconds for speed and agility, repetitions for muscle strength tests, and centimeters for leg muscle explosive power.

Data suitability testing for factor analysis showed a Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin (KMO) value of 0.584 and a significant Bartlett's Test of Sphericity result (χ² = 18.918; df = 10; p = 0.041) (Table 2). The KMO value, which is slightly below the threshold of 0.60, indicates that the sample adequacy is in the borderline category, so the results of the factor analysis need to be interpreted carefully and are exploratory in nature.

The Anti-Image Correlation results show that most variables have a Measure of Sampling Adequacy (MSA) value ≥ 0.50, except for the variables of speed and abdominal muscle strength. Therefore, these two variables were not included in the further factor analysis. The retained variables were then analyzed using Principal Component Analysis (PCA) with Varimax rotation. The communalities values (Table 4) show that leg muscle power (0.791), endurance (0.732), and skill (0.744) have relatively high contributions to the factor structure, while arm muscles (0.554) and agility (0.595) show moderate contributions.

The rotated component matrix (Table 5) identifies two main components. The first component is dominated by leg muscle explosive power (loading = 0.876), arm muscle strength (0.742), and agility (0.606), while the second component is mainly determined by endurance (0.838). These findings indicate that explosive ability and muscle strength play a more dominant role than other components in the physical condition of volleyball athletes in the context of this study.

As a complementary analysis, exploratory confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted using AMOS to evaluate the initial suitability of the measurement model generated from the previous factor analysis. The CFA results showed a χ² value of 18.862; df = 17; χ²/df = 1.11; p = 0.400, with model fit indices of CFI = 0.986, TLI = 0.978, RMSEA = 0.050, and GFI = 0.819 (Table 6). These values indicate that the model shows adequate to good data fit, although the GFI value is in the borderline category. Given the small sample size, these CFA results are not intended as final construct validation, but rather as an initial evaluation that needs to be confirmed in studies with larger sample sizes.

Dominant physical condition factors are outlined in Table 7, these having been identified by exploratory factor analysis. One variable, leg strength, had the largest correlation with the factor, explaining 771 of the variance, and a high level of commonality with the factor. The explosive capacities of the lower limbs are of vital importance in defining the physical qualities of the volleyball players under study here.

With a moderate factor loading of 0.742, muscle strength in the arm correlated significantly with physical condition, albeit with a communality of 0.554. This was the lowest correlation of all the variables considered. Agility showed a reasonable loading on the factor of 0.606 and a communality of 0.595, implying that it makes a contribution to the factors of movement response and play transition.

This study found a strong correlation between endurance and the second component (0.838) of physical condition, with a high degree of commonality (0.732). This suggests that endurance is a key element of an individual's overall physical condition. Given the results it appears that power and stamina are vital components of physical fitness in the current scenario, despite it being early days in research.

Note. Values represent standardized factor loadings. Model fit indices indicate acceptable to good fit (χ² = 18.862, p = .400; RMSEA = .050; CFI = .986; TLI = .978).

The exploratory measurement model presented in Figure 1 shows the relationship between the skill performance in volleyball and physical fitness. This study of physical fitness was found to be heavily influenced by four different parameters - muscular strength as demonstrated by a push-up test, the power of the leg muscles as measured by a vertical jump, cardiovascular endurance measured by the bleep test and finally speed and agility as demonstrated by a 25 yard shuttle run.

The volleyball skill factor comprised variables for service, the spike and pass. These had low to moderate loadings on the factor, suggesting they contained some, but not all of the information of the factor. In the present sample, a positive correlation was found between physical fitness and the performance of volleyball skills. This suggests a relationship between physical condition and the execution of technical skills in volleyball.

The fit statistics suggested that the model was a reasonable representation of the data however due to the low general fit index of 0.819 and the sample size the results should be treated with caution and viewed as exploratory rather than confirmatory.

This study aims to explore the structure of dominant physical condition components related to volleyball skill performance in the context of local clubs. The main findings indicate that leg muscle strength contributes most to physical fitness (loading = 0.876; communality = 0.791), followed by endurance (loading = 0.838; communality = 0.732), arm muscle strength (loading = 0.742; communalities = 0.554), and agility (loading = 0.606; communality = 0.595). On the other hand, linear speed (30 m sprint) and abdominal muscle strength did not meet the criteria for inclusion in the factor structure and were therefore excluded from further analysis. These results suggest that explosive and sustained physical capacity may represent important components of physical fitness related to volleyball skill performance in the sample studied.

The dominance of leg muscle strength observed in this study is consistent with international evidence emphasizing the importance of lower body explosive strength in volleyball performance. Previous studies have shown that vertical jump ability has a strong relationship with smash height, block efficiency, and overall performance in volleyball matches among volleyball athletes (Sheppard et al., 2006; Keoliya et al., 2024). Lower body explosive capacity allows athletes to generate rapid force production, which is essential for offensive and defensive actions at the net.

Similarly, the contribution of arm muscle strength aligns with findings indicating that upper body strength plays a crucial role in serve speed and spike execution (Lidor & Ziv, 2010; Duarte et al., 2019). While arm strength alone does not determine technical skill, it provides the mechanical foundation that supports effective force transfer during overhead actions.

Endurance emerges as a separate and significant component, consistent with studies reporting that volleyball matches impose intermittent yet prolonged physiological demands, particularly during extended rallies and multi-set matches (López-Serrano et al., 2024). Adequate aerobic and anaerobic endurance enables athletes to maintain technical execution quality under fatigue conditions.

Agility shows a moderate contribution, supporting literature that highlights the role of the ability to change direction in defense, transition play, and positional adjustments, especially for libero and wing players (de la Rubia et al., 2025). However, agility appears to function as a complementary rather than dominant component compared to explosive power and endurance.

The exclusion of linear speed and abdominal muscle strength can be explained by the principle of exercise specificity. The 30-meter sprint primarily measures linear acceleration, while volleyball performance relies more on short, multi-directional movements and reactive agility (Weldon et al., 2021). Therefore, linear sprint speed may not adequately describe the movement demands of volleyball.

Abdominal muscle strength, although important for core stability, may have an indirect rather than a dominant influence on volleyball skill execution. Core strength contributes to postural control and force transmission; however, its effects may be overshadowed by more task-specific physical attributes such as leg strength and agility (de Bruin, Coetzee, & Schall, 2021). This may explain its limited statistical contribution in the current exploratory model.

Based on the results of factor analysis on a sample of athletes from the Bahana Muda Volleyball Club, it can be concluded that leg muscle power, arm muscle strength, endurance, and agility are physical condition components that contribute relatively more to volleyball skills than other components. Conversely, linear speed (30-meter run) and abdominal muscle strength did not meet the criteria for inclusion in the factor structure, thus not showing a dominant role in the context of this study.

These findings indicate that volleyball skills in club athletes are more related to the ability to produce explosive movements, maintain physical capacity during the game, and respond to game situations quickly and agilely. Therefore, training programs are recommended to place more emphasis on developing leg muscle power, arm muscle strength, endurance, and agility as part of efforts to improve volleyball skills.

However, considering that this study was conducted at a single site with a relatively small sample size (n = 20) and used an exploratory factor analysis approach, the results of this study should be interpreted with caution. Further studies with larger samples, involving various clubs or competition levels, and using longitudinal or training intervention designs are needed to more strongly test the relationship between physical conditioning development and improvements in volleyball playing skills and match performance.

The researchers would like to thank all participants who have contributed to this study, especially Bahana Muda Volleyball Club, Malang City.

The data supporting this study's findings are available on request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available because they contain information that could compromise the privacy of research participants

This research does not receive external funding.

The author officially certifies that there are no conflicts of interest with any party with respect to this research.