ABSTRACT
The need for a developmental perspective is the elephant in the room whenever Relative Age Effects (RAEs) are discussed – everyone sees it, but none talks about it. After a brief discussion of the strengths and limitations of the current considerable cross-sectional research, we present longitudinal studies on German handball and French table tennis. The approaches used in these studies provide intriguing insight as to the value of considering more than a single time point when examining RAEs. Finally, we present an argument that RAEs may, ultimately, not be a problem for elite sports.
