Growth & Biological Maturation
Understanding Biological Maturation in Youth Sports
Biological maturation describes the process by which individuals progress toward the mature state and plays a central role in youth sport, particularly within high-performance academies. With the onset of puberty, large inter-individual differences in biological maturity become apparent within any given age group. Individuals of the same chronological age can differ by up to five years in biological age. In sports such as male football or track and field, these differences have notable consequences for how athletes are evaluated and selected into high-performance academies. Early-maturing players tend to display temporary physical and performance advantages during adolescence. As a result, early-maturing athletes are consistently overrepresented in competitive youth categories, particularly between U13 and U16, while late-maturing players who may possess equal or greater long-term potential are disproportionately excluded from elite pathways through selection and de-selection processes.
These maturation-associated differences have wide-ranging implications across several interconnected areas: they substantially influence physical performance capacity, shape sport-specific performance assessments by coaches, affect susceptibility to (growth-related) injury, and inform identification, selection, and de-selection decisions throughout the talent pathway. Given the breadth of these implications, a multidisciplinary research perspective is essential to ensure that all talented athletes have a fair chance of participation and development. To date, however, the majority of research in this area has focused predominantly on male athletes, leaving the implications of biological maturation in female youth sport underexplored.
Projects within the Field
Research within this area draws on both retrospective and prospective cross-sectional and longitudinal studies, using routinely collected data from youth academies as well as dedicated data collection across multiple sports. A central focus has been placed on developing practical tools that enable maturation-informed performance assessment. Normative percentile curves for sprint performance were established in reference to both chronological and skeletal age, allowing practitioners to contextualise an athlete's current performance level relative to their biological maturity. This is particularly relevant for late-maturing players, who may appear below average within a chronological age group yet perform at or above average when evaluated against peers of the same skeletal age. Building on this, the magnitude of expected changes in physical performance parameters across half-yearly and yearly intervals was quantified in reference to both chronological and skeletal age. This provides practitioners with an evaluation scale to assess how an individual player has developed in physical performance over time.
Alongside these evaluation tools, raising awareness among practitioners is equally important. A dedicated project examined the accuracy with which ice hockey coaches estimated the biological age of their players, both prior to and following targeted educational content. Findings from this work inform the development of sensitisation and training programmes aimed at improving maturation literacy among coaches and support staff across sports.
Given that existing research has focused predominantly on male athletes, a dedicated line of work has been initiated to extend this evidence base to female youth football. Spanning multiple academy and amateur club settings, this research examines how biological maturation influences selection processes and captures both players' and coaches' perspectives on maturation within the female youth pathway. Additionally, the interplay between biological maturation and physical performance will be investigated to better understand how maturity-associated differences shape performance development in female youth players.
Collectively, this research area aims to generate scientific evidence that supports fairer and more informed decisions across the talent pathway for both male and female athletes.
Scientific Journal Publications
EKrupitzer, C., Naber, J., Stauffert, J. P., Mayer, J., Spielmann, J., Ehmann, P., ... & Latoschik, M. E. (2022). CortexVR: Immersive Analysis and Training of Cognitive Executive Functions of Soccer Players using Virtual Reality and Machine Learning. Frontiers in Psychology, 5139.
Ehmann, P., Beavan, A., Spielmann, J., Mayer, J., Ruf, L., Altmann, S., Forcher, L., Klever, N., Rohrmann, S., Nuß, C. & Englert, C. (2022). Perceptual-cognitive performance of youth soccer players in a 360°-environment–An investigation of the relationship with soccer-specific performance and the effects of systematic training. Psychology of Sport and Exercise. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2022.102220
Mayer, J. & Hermann, H.-D. (2020). Kognitives Training im Sport. In J. Schüler, M. Wegner & H. Plessner (Hrsg.) Sportpsychologie. Anwendung und Grundlagen. S. 463-478. Heidelberg u.a.: Springer.
Jokiel, L., Johns, P., Spielmann, J. & Mayer, J. (2020). Verletzungsprävention im Rugby durch den Einsatz von Virtual Reality. Leistungssport 50 (5), S. 17-20.
Beavan A., Spielmann, J., & Mayer, J. (2019). Taking the First Steps Towards Integrating Testing and Training Cognitive Abilities Within High-Performance Athletes; Insights from a Professional German Football Club. Frontiers in Psychology 10(2773), pp. 1-5.
