ABSTRACT
In theory, only those athletes with an ideal body shape will be able to be successful competitively. Although this seems theoretically simple, for adolescent performers, especially for elite young athletes, the confirmation is obviously difficult. Their physical characteristics are dependent on growth and maturation and one of the most important motor features, strength, is also dependent on LBM (lean body mass) which depends also on the maturation level. Motor skill levels and physical fitness tend to be optimised during adolescence but the onset and termination of this period may vary so much between boys and between girls as to hide their real physical capacity. The description of morphological events during adolescence, was systematized by Tanner (1962). However, it was only at the end of the 1960s that the complex hormonal physiology of pubertal events began to be better understood, above all because of the possibility of measuring hormonal concentrations with new techniques. There are today many ways to measure biological age but a methodology that can precisely divide adolescence in categories others than prepubescent, pubescent and after puberty is missing.
