title: Career Performance Trajectories in Track and Field Jumping Events from Youth to Senior Success: The Importance of Learning and Development.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The idea that early sport success can be detrimental for long-term sport performance is still under debate. Therefore, the aims of this study were to examine the career trajectories of Italian high and long jumpers to provide a better understanding of performance development in jumping events.
  
  
  METHODS
  The official long-jump and high-jump rankings of the Italian Track and Field Federation were collected from the age of 12 to career termination, for both genders from the year 1994 to 2014. Top-level athletes were identified as those with a percentile of their personal best performance between 97 and 100.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The age of entering competitions of top-level athletes was not different than the rest of the athletic population, whereas top-level athletes performed their personal best later than the rest of the athletes. Top-level athletes showed an overall higher rate of improvement in performance from the age of 13 to the age of 18 years when compared to all other individuals. Only 10-25% of the top-level adult athletes were top-level at the age of 16. Around 60% of the top-level young at the age of 16 did not maintain the same level of performance in adulthood. Female high-jump represented an exception from this trend since in this group most top-level young become top-level adult athletes.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings suggest that performance before the age of 16 is not a good predictor of adult performance in long and high jump. The annual rate of improvements from 13 to 18 years should be included as a predictor of success rather than performance per se. Coaches should be careful about predicting future success based on performances obtained during youth in jumping events.
authors.affiliation: CeRiSM Research Center "Sport, Mountain, and Health", Rovereto, (TN), Italy.|Motor Science Research Center, School of Exercise & Sport Sciences, SUISM, Department of Medical Sciences, University of Turin, Turin, Italy.
authors.forename: Gennaro
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8706-4098
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Boccia
authors.affiliation: School of Exercise & Sport Sciences, SUISM, University of Turin, Turin, Italy.
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Moisè
authors.affiliation: School of Exercise & Sport Sciences, SUISM, University of Turin, Turin, Italy.
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Franceschi
authors.affiliation: School of Exercise & Sport Sciences, SUISM, University of Turin, Turin, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Trova
authors.affiliation: School of Exercise & Sport Sciences, SUISM, University of Turin, Turin, Italy.
authors.forename: Davide
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Panero
authors.affiliation: School of Sport and Exercise Sciences, Department of Neurological and Movement Sciences, University of Verona, Verona, Italy.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: La Torre
authors.affiliation: Motor Science Research Center, School of Exercise & Sport Sciences, SUISM, Department of Medical Sciences, University of Turin, Turin, Italy.
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rainoldi
authors.affiliation: CeRiSM Research Center "Sport, Mountain, and Health", Rovereto, (TN), Italy.|Department of Biomedical Sciences for Health, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Federico
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Schena
authors.affiliation: Aspire Academy, Doha, Qatar.|University College London, Department of Computer Science, London, United Kingdom.|University of St. Mark & St. John, Plymouth, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cardinale
mesh_terms: D000124:Achievement; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D056352:Athletes / Q000523:psychology*; D054874:Athletic Performance / Q000523:psychology*; D002321:Career Choice; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D008297:Male; D012044:Regression Analysis; D013177:Sports / Q000523:psychology*; D014142:Track and Field / Q000523:psychology*