TABLE 1.

Body size, skeletal age, motor performance and SSG technical actions by category (mean and CI 95%)

Variables	Total Sample	U-13 (n = 24)	U-15 (n = 58)	t	P
Chronological age (years)	14.4 (14.1–14.6)	12.9 (12.6–13.1)	15.0 (14.9–15.1)	-16.191	< 0.001*
Skeletal age (years)#	14.7 (14.7–14.3)	13.0 (12.4–14.5)	15.4 (15.1–16.0)	-9.753	< 0.001*
Body mass (kg)	57.9 (55.6–60.2)	46.8 (42.9–50.6)	62.5 (60.7–64.2)	-8.698	< 0.001*
Stature (cm)	169.5 (167.3–171.8)	159.4 (155.1–163.6)	173.8 (172.1–175.5)	-7.884	< 0.001*
Fat free mass (kg)	51.7 (48.5–53.9)	41.0 (37.0–45.0)	56.2 (54.6–57.8)	-8.694	< 0.001*
Locomotion (score)	0.0 (-0.1–0.1)	0.0 (-0.2–0.2)	0.0 (-0.1–0.1)	-0.169	0.867
Balance (score)	0.0 (-0.2–0.2)	0.0 (-0.4–0.4)	0.0 (-0.2–0.2)	-0.002	0.999
Manipulation (score)	0.0 (-0.2–0.2)	0.0 (-0.3–0.3)	0.0 (-0.2–0.2)	-0.036	0.972
Conquering the ball (number of actions)#	1.9 (1.5–2.2)	2.1 (1.5–2.7)	1.8 (1.4–2.2)	0.657	0.513
Receiving the ball (number of actions)	10.6 (9.9–11.4)	10.9 (9.5–12.3)	10.5 (9.6–2.2)	0.421	0.675
Neutral ball (number of actions)	6.7 (6.1–7.4)	6.7 (5.4–8.0)	6.7 (6.0–7.6)	-0.068	0.946
Losing the ball (number of actions)	2.6 (2.3–3.0)	2.4 (1.8–3.2)	2.7 (2.3–3.2)	-0.630	0.530
Playing an offensive ball (number of actions)	1.9 (1.6–2.5)	1.6 (1.1–2.1)	2.0 (1.6–2.5)	-1.031	0.306
Executing a successful shot (number of actions)#	2.1 (1.7–2.4)	1.7 (1.1–2.3)	2.2 (1.8–2.7)	-0.543	0.591

Note: # = transformed data log^10;

^*= significant difference between U-13 and U-15 category (P < 0.05).