Chronological age, relative age, pubertal development, and their impact on countermovement jump performance in adolescent football players: An integrative analysis
Stefano Amatori,
Antonio Pintus,
Lorenzo Corsi,
Roberto Bensi,
Laura Zanini,
Vanessa Rocco,
Laura Guidetti,
Carlo Baldari,
Marco B.L. Rocchi,
Davide Sisti,
Fabrizio Perroni
Affiliations
Stefano Amatori
Faculty of Psychology, ECampus University, Novedrate, 22060, Como, Italy; Department of Biomolecular Sciences, Section of Exercise and Health Sciences, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, 61029, Urbino, Italy
Antonio Pintus
Real Madrid Football Club, Madrid, Spain; Escuela Universitaria Real Madrid - Universidad Europea, Madrid, Spain
Lorenzo Corsi
Faculty of Psychology, ECampus University, Novedrate, 22060, Como, Italy
Roberto Bensi
Department of Biomolecular Sciences, Section of Exercise and Health Sciences, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, 61029, Urbino, Italy
Laura Zanini
Department of Biomolecular Sciences, Section of Exercise and Health Sciences, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, 61029, Urbino, Italy
Vanessa Rocco
Department of Biomolecular Sciences, Section of Exercise and Health Sciences, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, 61029, Urbino, Italy
Laura Guidetti
University “Niccolò Cusano”, 00166, Rome, Italy
Carlo Baldari
Faculty of Psychology, ECampus University, Novedrate, 22060, Como, Italy
Marco B.L. Rocchi
Department of Biomolecular Sciences, Service of Biostatistics, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, 61029, Urbino, Italy
Davide Sisti
Department of Biomolecular Sciences, Service of Biostatistics, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, 61029, Urbino, Italy; Corresponding author. Department of Biomolecular Sciences, Service of Biostatistics, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, 61029, Urbino, Italy.
Fabrizio Perroni
Department of Biomolecular Sciences, Section of Exercise and Health Sciences, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, 61029, Urbino, Italy; “Museum of Football F.I.G.C.” Foundation, Italian Football Federation, Via Gregorio Allegri, 14 00198, Rome, Italy
This paper examined the relationship among countermovement jump (CMJ), football category, chronological age, relative age, and pubertal development status to investigate which parameter could be better associated with jumping performance. We tested 259 young male football players (14.9 ± 1.8 yrs; 169.7 ± 9.8 cm; 60.6 ± 11.3 kg; 20.9 ± 2.6 kg m−2) belonging to elite football academies. One-sample chi-square tests were used to test the uniformity of distributions of the proportions of players in each year quarter (relative age effect, RAE) for the whole sample and stratified for each football age category (U14, U15, U17, and U19). One-way ANOVAs were used to test the associations among a) categories, RAE, and CMJ, and b) the pubertal status category and CMJ. Pearson's correlation assessed the relationship among variables. The birth distribution among the year's quarters significantly differed from the expected proportion of 25 % of participants each quarter (χ2 = 41.74; p < 0.001), highlighting the presence of a relative age effect. Results indicate that age significantly influences CMJ (F(6,231) = 8.85, p < 0.001, η2p = 0.187), and a significant interaction effect (age × birth quarter) was found. Coaches, strength and conditioning trainers, and scouts should be aware of physical and biological players' maturation.
