Abstract

The relative age effect (RAE) has been extensively debated and researched in both popular media and academic discourse. This study examined RAE in Swedish tennis players born in 1998–2001. The study was conducted in 2015–2016 and includes all ranked Swedish tennis players (n = 1835) registered in the Swedish Tennis Association database from the year 2014. The results show that when the birth dates of the corresponding Swedish population and all the ranked players are compared, they show a moderate RAE; however, the higher up they are in the ranking system, the greater the RAE becomes. Top 10 players display an average of 64.1% being born in the first half of the year. Some gender differences were also found, with a greater proportion of both higher and lower ranked females being born in the first half of the year. In our discussion of the findings we raise several issues that need to be addressed to provide more equal opportunities for all junior players regardless of birth date. Resolving ongoing problems associated with RAE in competitive sports such as tennis is important both in term of prolonged participation in the sport and increased performance. Suggestions made in this article include recognising RAE when designing the format of competitions/tournaments, not using official rankings until the juniors get older, addressing RAE in a “gender sensitive” way, and conducting further in-depth studies in which RAE is understood/examined as being associated with environmental factors. Although these findings show the RAE effect in Swedish tennis players, thus pointing at the need for further consideration in terms of ranking and selection procedures to ensure equal opportunities for player development, the study also concludes by reasserting an emphasis on a holistic approach to player development in which coaches focus on the developmentally appropriate needs and potential of each individual player regardless of their biological age.

Highlights

  • The topic of Relative Age Effect (RAE) has been a focus within popular books [1,2] and has garnered considerable attention among scientists and laypeople alike

  • The aims of the present study were to test the existence of RAEs in young Swedish male and female tennis players and to examine if these effects were influenced by age and/or skill level

  • A further aim was to investigate whether any differences exist in RAE between males and females

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Summary

Introduction

The topic of Relative Age Effect (RAE) has been a focus within popular books [1,2] and has garnered considerable attention among scientists and laypeople alike. There has been a growing interest in RAE in the sports context [3]. This phenomenon consists of a biased distribution of athletes’ birthdates. What is generally noticed is an overrepresentation of athletes born at the beginning of the competitive year, but an underrepresentation of people born at the end of it. Some authors have suggested that this effect is discriminatory for athletes born late in the competitive year [4]. In the sport of tennis Edgar and O’Donoghue [5] underline the potential gains (e.g., status, fame, monetary) for a tennis player and argue the importance of every young player having an equal opportunity to excel as a tennis player regardless of their birth date

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