Longitudinal investigations of development in handball and its association with relative age effects

In this paper, we describe two studies on the association among long-term developmental outcomes and relative age effects. To extend or compliment the cross-sectional work done previously, these studies take different approaches to investigate the association of relative age effects on long-term dev...

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Main Authors: Jörg Schorer, Irene Faber, Dirk Büsch, Joseph Baker, Nick Wattie
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2025-03-01
Series:Frontiers in Sports and Active Living
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Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fspor.2025.1528684/full
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author Jörg Schorer
Irene Faber
Dirk Büsch
Joseph Baker
Nick Wattie
author_facet Jörg Schorer
Irene Faber
Dirk Büsch
Joseph Baker
Nick Wattie
author_sort Jörg Schorer
collection DOAJ
description In this paper, we describe two studies on the association among long-term developmental outcomes and relative age effects. To extend or compliment the cross-sectional work done previously, these studies take different approaches to investigate the association of relative age effects on long-term development. In the first, a retrospective approach is taken, while in the second, developmental data for players over a 4-year period is considered. In study 1 the association between relative age effects and later performance at the adult level is presented. The results show different patterns for females and males. In the second study, development during the national youth development system in handball, over four points in time, are presented. Again, changes over time in birth quartile distribution can be seen. These studies suggest relative age researchers should embrace longitudinal designs. These types of approaches would allow explorations of the association of other variables with the observed relative age effects.
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issn 2624-9367
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publishDate 2025-03-01
publisher Frontiers Media S.A.
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series Frontiers in Sports and Active Living
spelling doaj-art-170a6cf018b446b68f2c761b34e5e12c2025-08-20T03:01:51ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Sports and Active Living2624-93672025-03-01710.3389/fspor.2025.15286841528684Longitudinal investigations of development in handball and its association with relative age effectsJörg Schorer0Irene Faber1Dirk Büsch2Joseph Baker3Nick Wattie4Institute of Sport Science, Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg, Oldenburg, GermanyInstitute of Sport Science, Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg, Oldenburg, GermanyInstitute of Sport Science, Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg, Oldenburg, GermanyTanenbaum Institute for Science in Sport, Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, CanadaFaculty of Health Sciences, Ontario Tech University, Oshawa, ON, CanadaIn this paper, we describe two studies on the association among long-term developmental outcomes and relative age effects. To extend or compliment the cross-sectional work done previously, these studies take different approaches to investigate the association of relative age effects on long-term development. In the first, a retrospective approach is taken, while in the second, developmental data for players over a 4-year period is considered. In study 1 the association between relative age effects and later performance at the adult level is presented. The results show different patterns for females and males. In the second study, development during the national youth development system in handball, over four points in time, are presented. Again, changes over time in birth quartile distribution can be seen. These studies suggest relative age researchers should embrace longitudinal designs. These types of approaches would allow explorations of the association of other variables with the observed relative age effects.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fspor.2025.1528684/fulltalentwithin-year effectbetween-year effectsportbias
spellingShingle Jörg Schorer
Irene Faber
Dirk Büsch
Joseph Baker
Nick Wattie
Longitudinal investigations of development in handball and its association with relative age effects
Frontiers in Sports and Active Living
talent
within-year effect
between-year effect
sport
bias
title Longitudinal investigations of development in handball and its association with relative age effects
title_full Longitudinal investigations of development in handball and its association with relative age effects
title_fullStr Longitudinal investigations of development in handball and its association with relative age effects
title_full_unstemmed Longitudinal investigations of development in handball and its association with relative age effects
title_short Longitudinal investigations of development in handball and its association with relative age effects
title_sort longitudinal investigations of development in handball and its association with relative age effects
topic talent
within-year effect
between-year effect
sport
bias
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fspor.2025.1528684/full
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