Faculty of Sport Sciences, Waseda University, Saitama, Japan.
Percept Mot Skills. 2011 Oct;113(2):570-4. doi: 10.2466/05.10.11.PMS.113.5.570-574.
The present study investigated the relative age effect, a biased distribution of elite athletes' birthdates, in Japanese male athletes. Japan applies a unique annual-age grouping for sport and education, which is from April 1 to March 31 of the following year. A total of 4,318 male athletes was evaluated from 12 sports: baseball, soccer, basketball, volleyball, handball, golf, horse racing, rugby, American football, sumo, Ekiden (track and field in long distance), and badminton. They played in the top level of Japanese leagues for each sport in 2010. The distribution of the birth dates was examined in each sport and showed significant relative age effect in baseball, soccer, volleyball, Ekiden, basketball, sumo, and horse racing, but not in all sports. The findings suggest that although the school year in Japan starts on April 1, significant relative age effects are observed in some sporting events.
本研究调查了日本男性运动员的相对年龄效应，即精英运动员出生日期的偏倚分布。日本在运动和教育方面采用了独特的年度年龄分组制度，从次年的 4 月 1 日至 3 月 31 日。共有 4318 名男性运动员参加了 12 项运动：棒球、足球、篮球、排球、手球、高尔夫、赛马、橄榄球、美式足球、接力赛（长跑田径）和羽毛球。他们在 2010 年参加了每个运动的日本顶级联赛。对每个运动的出生日期分布进行了检查，结果显示棒球、足球、排球、接力赛、篮球、相扑和赛马存在显著的相对年龄效应，但并非所有运动都存在。研究结果表明，尽管日本的学年从 4 月 1 日开始，但在某些体育赛事中仍存在显著的相对年龄效应。
