Table 2.

Effects of junior performance on senior performance

	$\overline{r}$	95% CI	p	k	Comparison	F	p
Overall	0.148	0.114, 0.182	< 0.001	129
Junior age category
Junior A	0.215	0.174, 0.257	< 0.001	62
Junior B	0.128	0.100, 0.156	< 0.001	45	Versus Junior A	12.216	< 0.001
Junior C	− 0.024	− 0.106, 0.057	0.515	13	Versus Junior A	34.156	< 0.001
					Versus Junior B	15.940	< 0.001
Junior D	− 0.052	− 0.101, − 0.002	0.045	9	Versus Junior A	62.586	< 0.001
					Versus Junior B	34.895	< 0.001
					Versus Junior C	0.042	0.839
Performance measure
Dichotomous	0.140	0.078, 0.201	< 0.001	39
Continuous	0.151	0.110, 0.192	< 0.001	90	Versus dichotomous	0.026	0.873
Performance bandwidth
Narrow	0.178	0.146, 0.211	< 0.001	97
Wide	0.081	0.014, 0.148	0.022	32	Versus narrow	1.119	0.292
Region
International samples	0.183	0.150, 0.214	< 0.001	74
National samples	0.103	0.037, 0.167	0.004	55	Versus international	0.844	0.360
Sex
Female	0.167	0.108, 0.225	< 0.001	54
Male	0.150	0.105, 0.194	< 0.001	67	Versus female	0.432	0.512
Types of sports
Cgs sports	0.172	0.134, 0.210	< 0.001	88
Game sports	0.110	0.035, 0.185	0.007	35	Versus cgs	0.175	0.676
Combat sports	0.176	− 0.365, 0.629	0.298	7	Versus cgs	0.047	0.828
					Versus game	0.125	0.724
Individual sports	0.166	0.129, 0.202	< 0.001	101
Team sports	0.108	0.008, 0.206	0.036	29	Versus individual	0.661	0.418

$\overline{r}$ pooled correlation coefficient, 95% CI confidence interval lower and upper limit, k number of effect sizes; F and p for moderator analyses controlling for junior age category (except among junior age categories themselves); Junior A, Junior B, Junior C, Junior D junior age categories, with Junior A being the oldest junior age category within each sport and Junior D the youngest age category; international samples: athletes from multiple countries, national samples: athletes from just one country, respectively; cgs performance is measured in centimeters, grams, or seconds (e.g., athletics, rowing, swimming, ski racing), game e.g., basketball, soccer, tennis, combat e.g., fencing, judo; narrow national to international competition level, wide regional to international competition level. The forest plots and I² statistics are reported in the ESM 2, Figs. S2.1–S2.4