Observational Identification of Maturation Status – with Dr Sean Cumming

Here at The Athlete Development Project we are very proud of our BASES accredited course; Certificate in Growth & Maturation for Youth Athletes. The certificate brings together specialist teaching and practical resources to help coaches and practitioners apply growth and maturation concepts in their work. We are keen to get as many of you upskilled in this area to help develop the next generation of youth that will help them love and enjoy sport and ultimately participate for life and also help some make it to an elite level. We think Growth & Maturation is key to this. Explore the full Certificate in Growth & Maturation for Youth Athletes for deeper study and 10 BASES endorsed CPD credits on completion.

As you will now know there are many different ways to asses maturation in youth athletes. You will also now be aware that some of these are invasive, some costly and some of them require a high level of expertise to be able to carry them out. In addition, even if you are able to put some of the previously discussed methods in to place they will not be instantaneous and most be will be labour intensive. Sometimes it is necessary to try and gain an idea of a youth athletes maturation status quickly in order to assess him or her from a talent identification perspective. This may be a coaches eye, a member of the recruitment staff or a Sport Scientist or medical practitioner. Furthermore, some clubs/organisations may not have the staff to implements the formal measurement methods e.g. grassroots sports; and therefore the eye is their only way to try and distinguish between early, on time and late maturers. In the Free video Dr Sean Cumming will give some top tips on how to distinguish between young athletes male and female that are pre adolescent growth spurt and highlight the tell-tale signs of someone going through PHV.