What Do We Know (and Not Know) About Adolescent Awkwardness in Youth Sports? A Narrative Review
Date
Authors
Borato, Lucas André
Whatman, Chris
Walters, Simon
Read, Paul
Supervisor
Item type
Journal Article
Degree name
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Abstract
Adolescent awkwardness is commonly referenced in sports science and medicine literature and is believed to impact athletic development and injury risk in youth sports. However, this concept is not well understood, and a literature synthesis has yet to be conducted. The aim of this narrative review was to synthesize and evaluate the evidence for adolescent awkwardness. Specifically, we examined how it has been defined and assessed in a youth sports setting. A literature search was conducted in MEDLINE, CINAHL Complete, and SPORTDiscus via EBSCO Health with 21 articles meeting our inclusion criteria. Most authors believe that adolescent awkwardness is a transitory period in which youth experience decreases in coordination and balance, impacting athletic performance and potentially increasing injury risk, yet there is no single accepted definition. There is also no consistency or standardization in the tests used. Measures of balance and lower limb power may be useful for tracking athletic performance across maturation, but their ability to identify a period of adolescent awkwardness appears limited. Some studies observed a decline in sensorimotor function during the growth spurt, while others show continuous improvement or high variability between youth. Cumulatively, it appears that adolescent awkwardness is poorly understood and there is no consensus definition or assessment method, warranting further research.Description
Keywords
42 Health Sciences, 4207 Sports Science and Exercise, Pediatric, 3 Good Health and Well Being, 11 Medical and Health Sciences, 17 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences, 32 Biomedical and clinical sciences, 42 Health sciences, 52 Psychology
Source
International Journal of Sports Science & Coaching, ISSN: 1747-9541 (Print); 2048-397X (Online), SAGE Publications, 20(5), 2257-2267. doi: 10.1177/17479541251364101
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© The Author(s) 2025. Creative Commons License (CC BY 4.0). This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits any use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).