Knowledge Center
Growth & Maturation
Talent Identification & Selection
Skill Development
Peak Height Velocity (PHV) is used as a marker in identifying early, normal or late maturers, and as a guide for determining direction in training programs.
This diagram is an example of training programs related to maturation timing of on-time maturers (girls and boys). When an athlete is identified as an early or late maturer, his training schedule and regiment needs to shift accordingly.
Developing World-Class Soccer Players: An Example of the Academy Physical Development Program From an English Premier League Team
2022 – Developments of S&C at the Royal Ballet School, UK with Niall MacSweeney
2022 – The Development of Basketball Players: Current Perspectives and Future Directions
Conclusion: the maturational status of young basketball players should be considered in the formulation of test batteries for talent detection and in long-term development programs to ensure that potential talents are not excluded due to late maturation in relation to their pairs.
Kevin Till, Rhodri S. Lloyd, Sam McCormack, Graham Williams, Joseph Baker, Joey C. Eisenmann
PLOS ONE 17(1): e0262995
Conclusion: These novel findings can help inform policy to optimize long-term athletic development and to support the complex problem of developing a healthier, fitter and more physically active youth population
2021 – Estimating is not measuring: the use of non-invasive estimations of somatic maturity in youth football
Job Fransen, Sabrina Skorski, Adam Dominic George Baxter-Jones
Conclusion: Researchers and practitioners should carefully … assign players into categories (i.e. pre, circum or post puberty), which can, alongside players’ chronological age, offer valuable insights to … practitioners concerned with football players’ growth and development.
2022 – Understanding the Adolescent Growth Spurt: A quick guide for youth/teen sport coaches
Joe Eisenmann PhD
@Joe_Eisenmann
Reducing Injury risks
2021 – YOUTH INJURIES – SWIMMING is one of the most common sports and activities participated in by youth! Nearly 50% of swimmers experience overuse injuries due to repetitive movement! Emphasizing the importance of developing strength & monitoring load to limit overuse
Youth Exercise Centre
@YEC_Bristol
2021 – Youth injuries – Gymnastics, A large percentage of injuries are overuse & over training in gymnastics, with risk typically increasing with age and competition level! Increasing lower limb strength and improving jumping & landing mechanics would help decrease the risk of injury!
Youth Exercise Centre
@YEC_Bristol
2022 – YOUTH INJURIES – FOOTBALL, a quick breakdown of common injuries in youth football! 66% of injuries are ‘non-contact’, this includes sprinting, changing direction & ball striking! Strength training can help improve the bodies ability to cope with physical & locomotor demands!
Youth Exercise Centre
@YEC_Bristol
2021 – YOUTH INJURIES – ’THROWERS’ SHOULDER. This stress injury to the proximal humeral growth plate is prevalent across many sports with repetitive overhead movements! Strengthening shoulder tissues & managing load along with improving throwing mechanics will help reduce prevalence!
Youth Exercise Centre
@YEC_Bristol
2022 – YOUTH INJURIES – RUGBY UNION
As the start of the rugby season gets closer it’s important we understand how many common injuries occur! Strength training can help reduce injury risk by developing locomotor skills, single leg stability & increasing structural load tolerance!
2022 – The influence of exposure, growth and maturation on injury risk in male academy football players
David M. Johnson a,b, Sean P Cumming a , Ben Bradleyb and Sean Williams,
a Department for Health, University of Bath, Bath, UK; b Academy Sports Science and Medicine Department, AFC Bournemouth, Bournemouth, UK
A heat map showing the combined effects of growth rate and percentage of predicted adult stature on estimated a) injury likelihood and b) injury burden
Conclusion: Practitioners should monitor the timing and rate of the growth spurt and exposure time to identify players at greater injury risk.
Training Load
2022 – Training Load dose-responses in adolescent male football: the importance of biological maturation
Jamie Salter, PhD ASCC CSci Senior Lecturer at York St John University United Kingdom
Conclusion: Practitioners should actively seek opportunities to integrate biologically classified training activity alongside chronologically categorized sessions within their training schedules. In doing so they may alleviate the consistent stress placed on less mature players as part of standard chronologically categorized sessions without compromising the development of those more mature and able to tolerate greater workloads.
2022 – Maturity status influences perceived training load and neuromuscular performance during an academy soccer season
Jamie Salter, Ross Julian, Stijn V. Mentzel, Alastair Hamilton, Jonathan D. Hughes & Mark De St Croix (2022):, Research in Sports Medicine, DOI: 10.1080/15438627.2022.2102916
Conclusion: Maturity-specific load prescription may prevent significant within age-group differences in accumulated load, possibly reducing injury risk and/or burnout.
Relative Age
2021 – Maturity Has a Greater Association than Relative Age with Physical Performance in English Male Academy Soccer Players
John M. Radnor, Jacob Staines, James Bevan, Sean P. Cumming, Adam L. Kelly, Rhodri S. Lloyd and Jon L. Oliver
Conclusion: Maturity status should be considered when comparing fitness scores in players to ensure practitioners are not comparing early and late maturers within the same age group, but rather are comparing boys of the same maturity status
Bio-Banding
