The relative age effect (RAE) is considered a common phenomenon in elite sport. However, it has not been examined systematically in previous research, and the mechanisms likely to generate or to limit such an effect are little understood. This paper investigates the prevalence of the RAE in French professional championship-level players, taking…

Being asked to give the Charles H. McCloy research lecture is one of the highlights of the author's academic career. Although McCloy's primary area of expertise was measurement and the analysis of motor skills, he also shared an avid interest in youth development through sport and physical activity. In this article, the author features youth sport…

The purpose of this study was to compare measures of body size in two samples of youth baseball players with normative data from the United States National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) growth charts. One sample of youth baseball players participated in a local little league. The second sample of youth baseball players were members of eight…

Different types of diving entries were filmed both above water and underwater to help identify factors which enable divers to enter the water without apparent splash. Anthropometric measures of subjects were taken to determine body streamlining. Results are presented. (Author/DF)

This study investigated the relationship between physical growth and performance of three- and four-year-old children (n=4two) on 2 stability or balance tests: the elevated beam and the stabilometer. Physical growth characteristics were concluded to be an integral part of factors influencing young childrens' stability performance. (Author/JMK)

Muscular and aerobic capacity changes resulting from three months of wrestling training were examined in a group of normally active seven- to nine-year-old boys. Wrestling training was found to improve strength in young boys, but it did not seem to improve aerobic capacity. (Author/DF)

Presents data from two studies determining the validity of various measures of physical activity in preschool children. One explored how certain measures of activity predicted observed behavior. The other examined the Caltrac motion sensor's predictive validity. Results indicate the Caltrac monitor is sensitive to children's individual differences…

A work reproduction design was used to examine the effect of attentional focus on the perception of physical work. Subjects performed a fixed interval of work while answering arithmetic problems or performing in an unfilled control condition. Results of this study are discussed. (Author/DF)

Serial data for 268 normal boys and girls were obtained and used to calculate predicted adult statures without using skeletal age. The data can be used to measure physical maturity in 5- to 15-year-old boys and 3- to 13-year-old girls without invasion of privacy or radiological techniques. (Author/PP)

The purpose of this study was to examine associations of fundamental movement skills (FMS) with measures of body composition. among children and adolescents. Secondary analyses of cross-sectional data collected from 4,363 children and adolescents in Grades 4, 6, 8, and 10 as part of the 1997 New South Wales Schools Fitness and Physical Activity…

A multiple measurement approach with eight measurements was used to answer research questions regarding physical and social effects that occur when educable mentally retarded adolescents were exposed to a 10-week dance program. This approach was found to be useful for identifying multiple effects and generating hypotheses for further study.…

To clarify patterns in the rate of motor development, children observed between kindergarten and second grade were refilmed, performing an overarm throw, when they became seventh-grade students. Results were compared with predictions made earlier. Differences in the skill levels of boys and girls and differences in their throwing experience are…