Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023;19(1):113-121.
doi: 10.1007/s11332-022-01007-x. Epub 2022 Oct 8.

Relative age effect in elite Brazilian athletes in different combat sports: an observational study

Paulo Francisco de Almeida-Neto  1   2 , Rui Barboza Neto  2 , Iago Medeiros  2 , Fernanda Cristina Silva de Oliveira  2 , Abel Gomes de Oliveira Filho  2 , Dihogo Gama de Matos  3 , Paulo Moreira Silva Dantas  1   2 , Breno Guilherme de Araújo Tinôco Cabral  1   2
Affiliations

Relative age effect in elite Brazilian athletes in different combat sports: an observational study

Paulo Francisco de Almeida-Neto et al. Sport Sci Health. 2023.

Abstract

Background: The relative age effect (RAE) suggests that, due to maturity, young athletes born in the first quartiles of the year may have advantages over those born in the last quartiles of the year. Thus, it is important to evaluate the RAE in different sports and to consider the particularities of the subdivisions of the sports categories.

Objective: To analyze the RAE in the top 20 of the Brazilian rankings in different combat sports.

Methods: Observational study that analyzed the national databases for the year 2019 (from categories U-11 to U-18) made publicly available by the Brazilian confederations of karate, taekwondo and fencing. We obtained data on date of birth, age category and body weight of all modalities, type of fencing competition weapon (Epee, Foie and Saber) and type of karate modality (kumite and kata) from the top 20 places in each ranking. The final sample consisted of 1,486 athletes (Age: 14.2 ± 2.3. Male-53.2%. Female-46.8%). To identify the RAE, we performed a contingency analysis and compared the results between the sexes within the same sport.

Results: There was RAE in the U-11, U-12, U-15 and U-17 fencing categories (p < 0.05), being higher in the female categories (p < 0.05). The RAE was higher for males in the Epee test, and similar between the sexes for the Saber and Foie tests. In karate, RAE occurred in categories U-14 and U-16 (p < 0.05), being higher in males (p < 0.05). The RAE was similar between the sexes in the kumite modality (p < 0.05). There was no RAE for the kata modality in karate (p > 0.05) and for the Taekwondo categories (p > 0.05).

Conclusion: The results showed the existence of a relative age effect in elite athletes ranked (top 20 places in each ranking) only for the sport of fencing and karate kumite.

Keywords: Athlete; Biological maturation; Maturity; Relative age; Sport.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing interestsThe authors declare no competing interests.Conflict of interestNothing to declare.

References

    1. Barnsley RH, Thompson AH, Barnsley PE. Hockey success and birthdate: the RAE. Can Assoc Health Phys Educ Recreat J. 1985;51:23–28.
    1. Mujika I, Vaeyens R, Matthys SP, Santisteban J, Goiriena J, Philippaerts R. The relative age effect in a professional football club setting. J Sports Sci. 2009;27(11):1153–1158. doi: 10.1080/02640410903220328. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Delorme N, Boiché J, Raspaud M. The relative age effect in elite sport: the French case. Res Q Exerc Sport. 2009;80(2):336–344. doi: 10.1080/02701367.2009.10599568. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Musch J, Grondin S. Unequal competition as an impediment to personal development: a review of the relative age effect in sport. Dev Rev. 2001;21(2):147–167. doi: 10.1006/drev.2000.0516. - DOI
    1. Cobley S, Baker J, Wattie N, McKenna J. Annual age-grouping and athlete development. Sports Med. 2009;39(3):235–256. doi: 10.2165/00007256-200939030-00005. - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources