The Mike Quirke Podcast Former Kerry captain Fionn Fitzgerald takes a closer look at the genetic lottery
Nov 17, 2022
Fionn Fitzgerald, former Kerry captain and current PhD candidate, dives into youth sports in this engaging discussion. He explores the 'relative age effect' and how maturation rates can skew young players' performance, illustrating the critical growth spurt ages for both boys and girls. Fionn highlights coaching challenges posed by early and late maturers and advocates for 'bio-banding' to group players by biological maturity instead of age. His research holds significant implications for coaches and parents navigating the developmental landscape of GAA youth sports.
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Maturation Outweighs Relative Age
- Maturation can create up to five or six years' biological difference within the same age grade, far bigger than relative age gaps.
- Coaches must distinguish chronological age from biological maturity when evaluating youth performance.
Extreme Size Gap In One Squad
- One development squad had a 14-year-old at 100% adult height weighing 95kg alongside a teammate at 87% and 36kg.
- That illustrated nearly six years' biological difference among players in the same squad.
Growth Spurts Temporarily Reduce Performance
- Peak height velocity often causes coordination loss and raises injury risk despite later strength gains.
- Monitoring growth spurt timing helps explain short-term performance drops and injury spikes.