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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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To quantify the junior-to-senior successful transition rate in sprint swimming events in elite European performers.Design: Retrospective analysis of publicly available competition data collected between 2004 and 2019.Methods: The yearly performance of 6631 European swimmers (females = 41.8% of the sample) competing in 50 and 100 m freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly were included in the analysis. The junior-to-senior transition rate was determined as the number of elite junior athletes who maintained their elite status in adulthood. To investigate how the definition of elite may affect the calculation of the transition rate, we operationally defined elite athletes as those ranked in the all-time top 10, 25, 50, and 100 in their category. We also calculated the correlation between junior and senior performances.Results: The average transition rates ranged, depending on the age of reference, from 10 to 26% in males and from 23 to 33% in females. The transition rate for the top 100 junior swimmers was greater than that for the top 10 swimmers. In general, swimmers who swam 50 m showed a slightly lower transition rate compared with those that swam 100 m. Depending on the age of reference, low-to-moderate correlations were observed between junior and senior peak performances.Conclusions: Most elite junior athletes did not maintain the elite level in adulthood. Except for athletes in the last year of the junior category (18 years for males and 17 years for females), junior performances were poorly correlated with senior performances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The aim of this study was to describe and analyse the performance career trajectories for Italian athletes that participated in sprint, hurdles, discus throw, and shot-put athletics events.Design: Retrospective study, data collected between 1994 and 2014.Methods: A total of 5929 athletes (female: n=2977, 50.2%) were included in the study. The age of entering competition and personal best performance was identified in the official competition records. Personal best performances were ranked in percentiles and top-level athletes were considered those in the highest 4% of the performance distribution.Results: Overall, when controlling for the age of entering competition, top-level athletes reached their personal best later (i.e., around 23-25 years old) for all events compared to the rest of the athletes. Moreover, regression analysis showed that entering competitions later was linked to better performances during adulthood. Also, only 17%-26% [90% CI] of the top-level adult athletes were considered as such when they were 14-17 years old.Conclusions: Together, these findings suggest that early sport success is not a strong predictor of top-level performance at senior level. Entering sport-specific competitions later and lengthening the sports career at beyond 23-25 years of age may be important factors to reach top-level performance in sprint and throwing events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The aim of this study was to determine the effects of dancing activity based on different dance styles, in groups as well as with a partner, on mobility performance, quality of life and social engagement in a sample of older adults. One hundred and sixty-three older adults (mean age, 70 years; SD = 4 years) participated in a supervised dancing activity programme for 16 weeks. The dancing activity included different dance routines and was progressive in terms of motor complexity. Data on mobility, health-related quality of life and social engagement were collected before and after a 16-week training period. Significant improvements in mobility, quality of life and social engagement were noted in single as well as dual-task performance after the intervention. Our results emphasise the benefit of a 16-week dance training on multidimensional features, including physical and psychosocial domains, which are important for successful ageing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives Dual-task (DT) performance is common to most activities of daily living and difficulties in DT activities may reduce quality of life in older adults. This study investigated the effect of DT training in a sample of older adults. Methods Sixty older adults (mean = 74.4 ± 3.1 years) participated in the study. Twenty-two older adults were included in the control (CG), 19 in the single-task (ST) training and 19 in DT training group. ST group received balance and walking training twice a week for16 weeks, while DT training group performed the same training with additional motor tasks. Data were gathered on 6 m timed walk (6MTW), timed up and go test (TUG) and four square step test (FSST). DT conditions required participants to complete 6MTW, TUG and FSST, either (i) while carrying a glass of water or (ii) while carrying a ball on a round tray. Results A significant Group x Time interaction was found in TUG ( F [2,57] = 29.5; p < 0.01; partial η 2 = 0.51) and in FSST (F [2,57] = 23.2; p < 0.01; partial η 2 = 0.44). After intervention DT showed better scores in overall TUG (mean difference = 1.21 s [95% CI, 0.82–1.60]; p < 0.05) and FSST (mean difference = 2.51 s [95% CI, 1.67–3.35]; p < 0.01), whereas CG and ST did not exhibit significant changes. Conclusion Our results suggested that 16 weeks of motor DT training, using motor additional tasks as manipulation of common objects of everyday life, could improve mobility in older age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]