Document Type : Research Paper
Authors
1 Ph,D. In motor Behavior, Kharazmi University
2 I. R. Iran Taekwondo Federation
3 Raja
4 Ph. D Candidate of Motor Development, Faculty of Physical Education and Sport Science, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
Abstract
Relative age have been widely investigated in the context of youth sports in recent decades. The phenomenon of Relative Age Effect (RAE) deal with recognizing (dis)advantages of relative age in children and adolescents born in same colander year. The present study aimed to investigate effect of relative age in Iranian taekwondo athletes and examine the relationship between relative age and the success of taekwondo athletes regrading league appearance, appearance in national team and medal winning. The information of 1843 male and female taekwondo athletes who are active in taekwondo clubs, were collect and analyzed according to their gender. Athletes with a history of 10 years of activity between 2011 and 2021 years were included in the study. The RAE described, and the chi-square test used to examine the relationship between relative age and success variables. The results showed the RAE in Iranian men (p=0.02) and women (p=0.04) taekwondo athletes, and the relative age of men had a significant effect in their appearance in the league (p=0.02). This finding was not significant for women (p=0.46). In addition, the relative age effect on the success rate in winning medals (p=0.17) and the opportunities to appearance in the national teams (p=0.19) was not significant. Similar to youth sport in the world, the relative age effect in Iranian taekwondo athletes is also a problem, and it seems that the (dis)-advantage due to the time of birth in the same calendar year plays a significant role in the final success pathway of the athletes.
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