Investigating the Modulatory Role of Chronological and Biological Age on Performance Predictors in Youth Swimmers
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ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Investigating the Modulatory Role of Chronological and Biological Age on Performance Predictors in Youth Swimmers M. A. McNarry1 · L. Lester2 · J. Brown1 · K. A. Mackintosh1 Received: 27 April 2020 / Accepted: 31 August 2020 © The Author(s) 2020
Abstract Purpose The aim of this study was to determine the modulatory roles of biological maturity and age on the predictors of performance in youth swimmers and their stability over a six-month training cycle. Methods In total, 28 swimmers (10 pre-pubertal [6 boys], 11.1 ± 1.8 years; 18 pubertal [8 boys], 15.2 ± 2.0 years old) and 26 untrained controls (15 pre-pubertal [10 boys], 9.7 ± 1.5 years; 11 pubertal [6 boys], 14.4 ± 0.5 years old) were recruited. At baseline, 3- and 6-months, participants completed an incremental ramp cycle test, isometric handgrip strength test and countermovement jumps, with speed assessed as a measure of performance in swimmers. Principle component analysis (PCA) identified factors that described youth swimmers’ physical profile, with linear mixed models subsequently used to determine their interaction with age and maturity on performance. Results Aerobic fitness and upper body strength were significantly higher in the trained participants, irrespective of maturity status or time-point. Four key factors were identified through PCA (anthropometrics; strength; aerobic capacity; aerobic rate), accounting for 90% of the between parameter variance. Age exerted a widespread influence on swimming performance predictors, influencing all four factors, whilst maturity only influenced the aerobic factors. The key age of divergence was 13 years. Conclusion Overall, the present study found no evidence of a maturational threshold in the aerobic or strength-related response to training in youth. The influence of age on performance predictors suggests that utilising a single or select group of parameters to inform selection and/or talent identification throughout the dynamic processes of growth and maturation should be avoided. Keywords Aerobic fitness · Strength · Maturity · Pre-pubertal · Pubertal · Power
Introduction The popularity of youth sports continues to rise [43], with the age at which children enter training programs continuing to decrease [46], despite this, whether children are “trainable” remains a contentious issue [38]. Indeed, there have been suggestions that, at least in some parameters, there may be a maturational threshold below which training effects are likely to be negligible [30]. Such hypotheses have important implications in the identification of key determinants of performance, implying that these determinants may be * M. A. McNarry [email protected] 1
School of Sport and Exercise Sciences, Swansea University, Bay Campus, Swansea SA1 8EN, UK
School of Human Science, University of Western Australia, Perth 6009, Australia
2
dependent on maturity. However, little research has considered the modulatory role of maturity on the determinants of performance. Swimmers typically start intensive trai
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