RELATIVE AGE EFFECT IN YOUNG COMPETITIVE TENNIS PLAYERS

Authors

  • Mustafa Söğüt Department of Physical Education and Sports, Faculty of Education, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Türkiye
  • Koray Biber Department of Physical Education and Sports, Faculty of Education, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Türkiye
  • Hasan Ödemiş Department of Physical Education and Sports, Faculty of Education, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Türkiye
  • Durukan Durmuş Department of Physical Education and Sports, Faculty of Education, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Türkiye; Department of Coaching Education, Faculty of Sport Sciences, Gazi University, Ankara, Türkiye
  • İsmet Tarık Ulusoy Department of Physical Education and Sports, Faculty of Education, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Türkiye; Department of Physical Education and Sports Teaching, Faculty of Sports Sciences, İstanbul Aydın University, İstanbul, Türkiye

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the presence of the relative age effect (RAE) in young tennis players. Data from a sample of all ranked (n= 3463) and licensed (n= 29150) players in consecutive age groups (10- to 17-year-old) were collected from the official web page of the national federation. They were assigned to four quartiles according to the month of birth: a) Quartile 1 = January-February-March, b) Quartile 2 = April-May-June, c) Quartile 3 = July-August-September, d) Quartile 4 = October-November-December. The players aged between 10 and 17 years affiliated with the national federation were assigned as theoretically expected distribution. The results revealed that 70%, 60.1%, and 56.6% of the top 10, 50, and all ranked players were born in the first half of the year, respectively. However, the results from the chi-square test of goodness-of-fit showed significant RAEs only in the distributions of all ranked and top 50 players at the age of 10 and 11 correspondingly. These results may suggest that RAE exists among young tennis players who are in their early adolescence years.

Key words: racket sports, talent identification, biological age, physical growth, maturation

Author Biographies

Mustafa Söğüt, Department of Physical Education and Sports, Faculty of Education, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Türkiye

 

 

Koray Biber, Department of Physical Education and Sports, Faculty of Education, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Türkiye

 

 

Hasan Ödemiş, Department of Physical Education and Sports, Faculty of Education, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Türkiye

 

 

Durukan Durmuş, Department of Physical Education and Sports, Faculty of Education, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Türkiye; Department of Coaching Education, Faculty of Sport Sciences, Gazi University, Ankara, Türkiye

 

 

İsmet Tarık Ulusoy, Department of Physical Education and Sports, Faculty of Education, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Türkiye; Department of Physical Education and Sports Teaching, Faculty of Sports Sciences, İstanbul Aydın University, İstanbul, Türkiye

 

 

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Published

2023-06-30

How to Cite

Söğüt, M., Biber, K., Ödemiş, H., Durmuş, D., & Ulusoy, İsmet T. (2023). RELATIVE AGE EFFECT IN YOUNG COMPETITIVE TENNIS PLAYERS. Kinesiology, 55(1), 120–127. Retrieved from https://hrcak.srce.hr/ojs/index.php/kinesiology/article/view/25625

Issue

Vol. 55 No. 1 (2023)

Section

Articles

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