Allowing learners to control feedback has been an effective strategy in motor skills learning. However, most studies of self-controlled (SC) feedback have used simple tasks that may be dissimilar to sports skills that generally demand more degrees of freedom and cognition. Thus, this study investigated the effects of SC knowledge of results (KR) on learning a complex Taekwondo skill. Twenty-four undergraduate volunteers of both sexes, aged 18-35 years, practiced a specific serial Taekwondo skill that was novel to them. We divided participants randomly into SC and yoked groups and compared their performance after they learned a specific displacement sequence, finishing with a lateral kick (bandal-tchagui) at a punching bag within a target time span. During acquisition, all participants performed 48 trials divided into six blocks and, on a retention test 24 hours later, they performed 10 more trials. We found that both groups reduced their errors from the first to the last block of the acquisition phase and that the SC group showed a better performance on the retention test, relative to the yoked control group. SC KR participants requested KR mainly after good trials, though they showed no statistically significant differences between trials with and without KR. Their inefficiency in estimating their own errors may have been due to task complexity, since many aspects of the task beyond its temporal requirement demanded the learners’ attention. Our results, using a novel Taekwondo serial skill, confirm and extend the benefits of SC KR from just simple motor learning in past studies to learning complex motor skills.

This study aimed to verify the occurrence of the relative age effect (RAE) in male elite young handball athletes according to the playing position and its association with team performance in a World Championship. Data from 383 handball athletes from 24 countries who participated in the 7^th World Men’s Championship in the under-19 category were analyzed. RAE was investigated from the birth trimester of the athletes, their playing position, and final ranking in the Championship. The results showed an overrepresentation of athletes born in the first two trimesters (Q1 and Q2) (χ²₍₃₎ = 32.97; p < 0.001, ω = 0.29). The analysis of the athlete’s position showed that most wings (χ²₍₃₎ = 18.37; p < 0.001, ω = 0.32) and backs (χ²₍₃₎ = 12.51; p = 0.006, ω = 0.34) were born in the first trimesters (Q1 and Q2). The ranking in the Championship presented no significant association with the date of the birth (p > 0.05). The results showed the existence of the RAE in youth handball elite athletes, especially for the back and wing positions. However, the strategy of selecting is questionable once the presence of RAE was not associated with competitive success.

Purpose: This study investigated the occurrence of relative age effect (RAE) in Brazilian elite soccer athletes depending on age categories, playing position, and competitive level.Methods: Data from 2660 male elite soccer athletes who participated in the 2019 Brazilian soccer championships were analysed. To determine RAE, the players were divided by their quarter of birth: Q1 (January-March), Q2 (April-June), Q3 (July-September), and Q4 (October-December). Data were obtained from the Brazilian Soccer Confederation (CBF) official website, and from each club’s website when no information was available at the CBF website. Were included the athletes who participated in the 2019 Brazilian soccer championships in series A and B. Data were organized in accordance with age categories (under-20 or senior), playing position (forwards, midfielders, defenders, and goalkeepers), and competitive level (Series A or B).Results: An overrepresentation of soccer players born in the first quarter of the year was found when compared with the other quarters, whereas players born in the last quarter of the year were underrepresented, regardless of the age category and competitive level. Regarding playing position, an overrepresentation of soccer players born in the first quarter of the year was found for all playing positions in both age categories, except for the goalkeepers in the senior category.Conclusions: Our results showed a prevalence of RAE in U-20 and senior age categories in elite Brazilian soccer athletes, in both competitive levels, and for all playing positions, except for goalkeepers in the senior category.

Purpose: To compare the tactical-technical behavior of volleyball players according to the manipulation of court size in small-sided games. Method: We analyzed the tactical-technical behaviors of 16 male players (12.2 ± 0.5 years and 1.2 ± 0.8 years of practice) using the components of the GPAI instrument (Adjustment, efficiency, decision-making and effectiveness) validated for volleyball. To this end, we examined 1614 transition actions (defense, setting and attack) from games played in four court dimensions (3.0 × 3.0m, 4.0 × 4.0m, 4.6 × 4.6m and 5.2 × 5.2m). Altogether 96 Volleyball games were analyzed. Results: The smaller area per player favored technical skills development, specifically defensive and offensive ones. On the other hand, a larger area per player promoted higher scores in decision-making and effectiveness. Conclusion: Our findings indicate that the players’ behaviors in small-sided games depend on the game configurations, since modifications in the tactical-technical behavior emanate from the game ecology. Thus, the court size manipulation is a powerful pedagogical tool that deeply relates to learning outcomes. Coaches must consider such constraints in the teaching-learning process, since small-sided games manipulations should be linked with clear learning goals.

The present study used the Social Network Analysis aiming to explain the direct and indirect relationships between the reception location and subsequent game procedures, evaluating the similarities and differences in offensive construction.The sample consisted of the analysis of 22 games from the 2018 Men’s Volleyball World Championship. Only teams placed from 1st to 8th positions had their games selected.The network analysis indicated that the reception zones Z5, Z6, Z7, Z8, Z9 and Z1 showed greater relationships between the game procedures, suggesting more diversity in the type of game played.Our results indicate that elite male volleyball game occurs mostly in-system situations, withoptimal conditions for the construction of the attack.On the other hand, the need to train the team off-system was evidenced, since high eigenvector values were identified in these attack construction conditions, evidencing off-system situations.Overall, the ecology of the game demands the athletes to adapt to the restrictions imposed by the possibilities of action.

Volleyball is a popular sport in Brazil, and the relative age effect (RAE) is known to occur within it; but less is known of how RAE relates to elite Brazilian volleyball players’ age, sex, and competitive levels. We aimed to investigate RAE prevalence with data from two seasons of play among players in the Superliga A (2020/2021 and 2021/2022 seasons), and Superliga B (2021 and 2022 seasons) made available from the Brazilian Volleyball Confederation (CBV), the club’s official website, or direct consultation with the CBV. After removing duplicate data, we grouped these 1,063 athletes by their dates of birth, sex, and competition level (Superliga A or B). We divided players’ birth dates into quarters (Q1: January-March, Q2: April-June, Q3: July-September and Q4: October-December) and into semesters, and we performed chi-square (χ²) tests to investigate RAE prevalence according to the players’ sex and competitive level. RAE was prevalent overall (χ² = 33.198; p < .001), among males (χ² = 24.48; p < .001) and females (χ² = 11.23; p < .011). Regarding competition level, RAE was evident among males in both Superliga A (χ² = 14.581; p = 0.002), and B (χ² = 13.985; p = 0.003), and among females in Superliga B (χ² = 9.204; p = 0.027), but not Superliga A (χ² = 4.012; p = 0.26). Thus, the RAE phenomenon operated differently for male and female Brazilian volleyball players according to their competitive level. We discuss the implications of these findings.