Corrective Adjustment Procedures as a strategy to remove Relative Age Effects: Validation across male and female age-group long jumping

Paolo Riccardo Brustio; Stephen Cobley; Shaun Abbott; Antonio La Torre; Paolo Moisè; Alberto Rainoldi; Gennaro Boccia

doi:10.1016/j.jsams.2022.04.007

Corrective Adjustment Procedures as a strategy to remove Relative Age Effects: Validation across male and female age-group long jumping

J Sci Med Sport. 2022 Aug;25(8):678-683. doi: 10.1016/j.jsams.2022.04.007. Epub 2022 May 2.

Authors

Paolo Riccardo Brustio¹, Stephen Cobley², Shaun Abbott³, Antonio La Torre⁴, Paolo Moisè⁵, Alberto Rainoldi⁶, Gennaro Boccia⁷

Affiliations

¹ Department of Neuroscience, Biomedicine and Movement, University of Verona, Italy; NeuroMuscularFunction Research Group, School of Exercise & Sport Sciences, SUISM, University of Turin, Italy. Electronic address: paoloriccardo.brustio@unito.it.
² Discipline of Exercise & Sport Science, Faculty of Health Sciences, The University of Sydney, Australia.
³ Discipline of Exercise & Sport Science, Faculty of Health Sciences, The University of Sydney, Australia. Electronic address: https://twitter.com/ShaunAbb0tt.
⁴ Department of Biomedical Sciences for Health, University of Milan, Italy.
⁵ SUISM, University of Turin, Italy. Electronic address: https://twitter.com/MoisePaolo.
⁶ NeuroMuscularFunction Research Group, School of Exercise & Sport Sciences, SUISM, University of Turin, Italy; Department of Medical Sciences, University of Turin, Italy.
⁷ NeuroMuscularFunction Research Group, School of Exercise & Sport Sciences, SUISM, University of Turin, Italy; Department of Clinical and Biological Sciences, University of Turin, Italy. Electronic address: https://twitter.com/gennaro_boccia.

PMID: 35644757
DOI: 10.1016/j.jsams.2022.04.007

Abstract

Objectives: To validate the application of Corrective Adjustment Procedures for removing Relative Age Effects in youth athletic contexts, this study estimated the longitudinal relationships between decimal age (chronological and relative) and performance in male and female long jumpers. Using trendlines, Corrective Adjustment Procedures were applied, and Relative Age Effect distributions associated with performance attainment were re-examined.

Design: Retrospective longitudinal design examining competitive long-jump data between 2005 and 2019.

Methods: In Part I, participants were 689 junior Italian long jumpers (age range = 11.01-17.99 years; 56.6% females) who participated in ≥three events. Longitudinal modelling and regression equations quantified the sex-specific relationships between decimal age and long jump performance. In Part II, equations were utilised to adjust individual performance within an independent sample (N = 13,639; 50.1% females) of age-matched jumpers. Relative Age Effect distributions within attainment levels (i.e., Top 25-10%) were examined based on raw and correctively adjusted performance.

Results: Irrespective of sex, Relative Age Effects were prevalent across all age-groups with medium-large effect sizes at 12-17 (males and females) and 12-17 years (females) of age (Cramer's V range = 0.07-0.28). Relative Age Effect bias magnitude also increased with attainment level (i.e., Top 25-10%). Following Corrective Adjustment Procedure application, typical Relative Age Effects were removed with non-significant deviations in relative age distributions regardless of sex or age-group or attainment level (Top 25 or 10%).

Conclusions: Findings provide efficacy for Corrective Adjustment Procedure application to remove Relative Age Effects across youth long jumping events. Corrective Adjustment Procedures suggest potential in improving performance evaluation, identification of technically skilled performers, and sporting experiences.

Keywords: Athlete development; Athletics; Corrective Adjustment Procedures; Relative Age Effect; Track & field.

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Age Distribution
Age Factors
Athletes
Athletic Performance*
Child
Female
Humans
Male
Retrospective Studies