ABSTRACT

Although relative age effects in sports have been studied worldwide, the underlying mechanisms are still under debate. This study adds to the existing knowledge by providing a further exploration of the within-year and between-year effects and their possible interaction in an individual skill/technique based sport: table tennis. Data of male and female elite players across ages (U15, U18, U21, and senior) were collected from the ranking lists in international (world and Europe) and national contexts (France and the Netherlands). A multi-way frequency analysis per subsample revealed (1) no interaction effects; (2) significant within-year and between-year effects for the U15 players in the international context and male French players; (3) a significant within-year effect in the French U18 category; (4) a significant within-year effect in female European U21; and (5) no within-year effects in the senior category. Table tennis seems to be at risk for within-year and between-year effects specifically within the context of high competitive level for younger players (U15, males, and females), but not for interactions between these effects. Future research should reveal the development of the RAEs over time in a longitudinal study, evaluate influencing constraints, and innovative prevention solutions in a more comprehensive way.

摘要

尽管全世界已经研究了体育中相对年龄的影响，但其潜在机制仍在争论中。这项研究通过进一步探讨年内和年间影响以及它们在基于个人技能/技术的运动中的可能相互作用（乒乓球），从而增加了现有知识。从国际（世界和欧洲）和国家（法国和荷兰）的排名列表中收集了各个年龄段（U15，U18，U21和老年人）男女精英球员的数据。每个子样本的多向频率分析显示（1）没有交互作用；（2）在国际背景下，U15球员和法国男球员在年内和年间产生重大影响；（3）在法国U18类别中产生重大的年内影响；（4）欧洲21岁以下女性明显的年内影响；（5）高级类别没有年内影响。乒乓球似乎有年内和年间影响的风险，特别是在年轻运动员（U15，男性和女性）竞争水平较高的情况下，但这些影响之间的相互作用却没有。未来的研究应通过纵向研究揭示RAE随时间的发展，评估影响因素，并以更全面的方式提出创新的预防方案。