Biological Maturation of Youth: Assessment and Implications · PDF fileBiological Maturation...

Biological Maturation in Young Athletes

Dr. Sean P. Cumming

Department for Health

([email protected])

Biological Maturation of Youth:

Assessment and Implications


Why study growth & maturation in sport?

1. Children grouped by age for training & competition; yet vary greatly in size & maturity

2. This has implications for (1) talent identification (2) training design (3) competition


Maturation: A definition

• Progress towards the adult state; occurs in multiple bio-systems (dental, hormonal, skeletal sexual)

• Defined in terms of (1) status (2) tempo & (3) timing (i.e., early, on-time, late)


The timing of maturation

• Children experience maturational events (e.g., puberty, menarche) at different ages (early, on-time, late)

• Genetically driven yet susceptible to socio-environmental factors; impacts physical, psychological & athletic development


Early maturing males

• Physically larger from 8 years; enters puberty 10-11 years

• Greater pubertal gains in height, weight, BMI, absolute/relative muscle mass

• Positive/adaptive psychological profile


Late maturing males

• Enter puberty 13-14 years

• Smaller pubertal gains in height, weight, BMI, absolute/relative muscle mass; taller/more linear as adults

• Anxious, socially awkward, submissive and immature in behaviour


Pubertal timing & functional capacity in males

Vertical jump

cm

55

50

45

40

35

30

12 13 14 15 16 17 18

Shuttle run20

21

22

23

24

s

Flexed arm hang

15

20

25

30

35

40

s

Sit and reach

18

20

22

24

26

28

cm

Plate tapping (20 sec)

12 13 14 15 16 17 18 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

90

80

70

100

n

Arm pull

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

kg


How does timing impact sport involvement?

1. Talent identification and athlete section

2. The design of training and conditioning programmes and the potential for injury

3. Grouping of athletes for competition


1. Talent identification and athlete selection

• Talent is defined by athletic aptitude and success within the athletes age groups

• Aptitude and success can, however, be masked or enhanced by differences in maturational timing


Maturation & evaluation

• Early maturity advantageous for…

• Explosive power (CMJ, VSJ, SLJ)

• Anaerobic power

• Isometric strength

• Sprinting (30m)

• Agility (shuttle run, sprint with slalom)

• Endurance

Meylan et al., et al., (2010)


THE CONTRIBUTION OF MATURITY & GROWTH CHARACTERISTICS TO

PERFORMANCE IN ELITE PORTUGUSESE PLAYERS

11

41%59%

Vertical Jump Performance

Maturity and growth characteristics

Unexplained variance

50%50%

30m sprint time

Maturity and growthcharacteristics


21%79%

Aerobic Performance



13%

87%

Ball Control With Body



8%

92%

Shooting Accuracy



Malina et al., (2004, 2005)


12

* Buchheit & Mendez-Villanueva (2014) J Sports Sci, DOI 10.1080/02640414.2014.884721


Maturation and athlete selection

• Selection bias for males who are on-

time or advanced in maturation in

most sports; increases with age and

competitive level

• Bias in female varies relative to the

demand of the sport; Tennis (Early);

Aesthetic and endurance sports

(Late)


Questions of concern

1. Are selection strategies favoring players on attributes not

fully realized until after puberty counterproductive?

2. Are early maturing boys encouraged to play to their

strengths at the neglecting their technical development?

3. Are talented yet late maturing and/or smaller boys being

overlooked or excluded too early?


Too small for football?


"I was small for my age. I was a late

developer. ......it’s hard to call a

player at such a young age. After that

I went to Spurs when I was 11.

"It wasn't like it took off straight from

then, I still had to work hard. There

were highs and lows along the way.

As I got older and older, I grew up a

bit, caught up to the rest of the

players my age and it went from

there, really”.

Harry Kane – Tottenham Hotspur &

England International


Upper body strength

Lefevre et al., (1990) Annals Hum. Biol., 17, 423-34


Lower body strength



Power



Speed



Upper body endurance



Bio-banding: A renaissance

• Process of matching players on growth and/or maturity attributes rather than age

• Applicable in the contexts of (1) talent identification, (2) development, and (3) competition


1. Bio-banding and talent identification

• EPL academies evaluate players relative to age and maturity status

• Helps practitioners better identify players strength, weaknesses, and future potential

-2

-1

0

1

205m Sprint

10m sprint

20m sprint

30m sprint

505 Agility Left foot

505 Agility RightFoot

CMJ

Yo-Yo

Player AFitness Z Scores for U12s

-2

-1

0

1

205m Sprint

10m sprint

20m sprint

30m sprint

505 Agility Left foot

505 Agility RightFoot

CMJ

Yo-Yo

Player A:Fitness Z Scores for 95% PAH


26

* Votteler & Honer (2014) Eur J Sports Sci, 14, 433-42

Developmental trajectories for performance


Growth potential: A Case Example


2. Bio-banding and training

• All fitness attributes responsive to training at all ages; yet adaptationsvary with maturity *

• To optimize training effects/enhance safety, match the athlete’s program to his/her maturational status and skill set

* Lloyd & Oliver (2012) Str Cond J, 34, 61-72; ** Blanchard (2015)

http://blogs.bmj.com/bjsm/2015


Physical Youth Development (Lloyd & Oliver, 2012)


Bio-banded training groups

* DePledge (2015) Application of growth and maturation at Southampton FC


* Blanchard (2015) BJSM Blog online


The clumsy child phase

• Growth spurt requires adjustment to rapid changes in limb length, fitness & mechanics *

• Controlled movement, reactions/co-ordination, running & landing mechanics, sport specific skills for youth circa PHV *

* Blanchard (2015)

http://blogs.bmj.com/bjsm/2015/04/14/supporting-young-athletes-

to-stay-and-excel-in-sport-whats-the-role-of-the-medical-team-

and-what-does-expanding-our-view-of-maturation-have-to-do-

with-it/


Maturation and overuse injuries

• Growth spurt a risk factor for overuse injuries, especially epiphyseal (Osgood-Schlatter’s, Sever’s disease) *

• Training load and athlete’s health needs to be be closely monitored during the growth spurt to avoid overuse injuries

* Blanchard (2015) http://blogs.bmj.com/bjsm/2015


* Price et al., (2004) Brit J Sports Med, 38, 466-471


3. Bio-banding and competition

• Bio-banding can be used to match athletes by maturation rather than age for competition

• Games can be grouped in biological bands or players can play up or down an age group


Rhodri Oliver

88%

Marty Stanner

92%

Tom Curran

89%

Brian Corsie

78%

Keith Moar

87%

Ian Ramsden

92%

Mark Atkinson

85%

Magnus Tapp

88%

Geoff Hay

96%Grant C’david

85%

Mike Slavin

87%Tom Dompier

86%

Baxter Jones

89%

Joe Icemann

86%

U-13s

M PAH = 86.5%


Bio-banding in football

• Premier League hosted world’s first bio-banded competition in football (Southampton, Norwich, Stoke, Reading)

• Players aged between 11 to 14 years between 85-90% predicted adult height

http://www.premierleague.com/en-gb/news/news/2015-

16/sep/170915-premier-league-bio-banding-helping-late-

developers.html


Bio-banding in Football (cont.)

• Coaches & players rated experience as overwhelmingly positive

• "In this type of match they don't go into a game worried about other players being too big, too quick and too physical for them to compete with, but know that the challenge will be something that is manageable. This will also assist us with talent identification, retaining late developing players for longer periods."


Testing a bio-banded competition in EPL (cont.)

• Early maturers (playing up) reported working harder, relied on technical over physical attributes, adapted to faster game, relied more on teammates

• Late maturers (playing down) reported greater composure, more opportunity to demonstrate technical skills, leadership opportunities


Early maturers playing up

“it’s definitely made me move the ball quicker than I would and I don’t use my strength as an advantage as much as I do with my own age group” (EM1, P4)

“You learn a lot more playing like this than you would normally playing with your age group” (EM2, P4)

“It made me more confident, playing with older boys, and getting used to the pace. Made me quicker on the ball. ” (EM1, P3)


Late maturers playing down

“in a normal game you might only be able to do a bit of magic twice, but in here, every time you get the ball there is a chance that you can do it” ( LM1, P3)

“You're also more composed on the ball...there's not a massive 6' 5" player running up ...you know that it's somebody your size, you can push off as well as keep the ball” (LM1, P4)

“ I feel like it's given us more chance to stay at the club... Finally, people have been realising that small players are good for the academies” (LM1, P1)


Bio-banding: The future

• Examine ‘in game’ differences between early & late maturing males (GPS, match analysis)

• Competitions different maturity bands (e.g., 90-95%, 95-100%)

• Interest from other sports (cricket, rugby, gymnastics, triathlon)


Take home messages

• When working with young athletes, it is important to consider individual differences in growth and maturation

• Selection strategies that favour athletes on attributes that are not fully realised until adulthood may be counterproductive

• Bio-banding has the potential to account for individual differences in maturation; optimise player development and safety


Thank You

Any Questions?

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