RESEARCH QUARTERLY

TABLE II
NUMBER OF OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCES PER FIvE-YEAR INTERVAL

 

Age Interval
Type of Activity I5- 20- 25- 30— 35— 40— 45— 50— 55— 60- 65-
19 24 20 34 39 44 49 54 50 64 69
Prof. baseball (not inc. pitching) 12 476 1,443 944 226 25

Prof. baseball (pitching) ....... 8 216 <763 50r 137° 37
Major league batting
ChAMPIONENIDS’ scl sues es QO sr 3r  s5
Major league pitching
championships .....6.. : so oe To pa (Al 20) 3
Major league stolen-base
championships ©: ........)0¢2.. P36 o 33°' 6
Professional boxers .<.....i4... 6: 142 “(208 “9g 44-3
Tennis champions
(Fr. Eng. and Amer.) ........ 12'/84 133. S428 6
Prof. ice hockey players ........ Gi235) 375 167 837). 33
Prot. football players .......... 214 242)-20
Corn-husking champions ....... 21027 oan 1s a a OT
Automobile racers .........5.:: T4226) rs 8 I
Bowling champions (Ind. perf.). 2 5 13 18 12 6 I I
Bowling champions (Team perf.) 5 24 60 54 50 25 10 7 «I 1
Rifle and pistol shooters ....... $3105 153.137 97 S230 “5 9° x
Duck pin bowlers (men) ....... Alan 37 22s
Duck pin bowlers (women)..... 17 43° 26
Billiards (world records) ....... Reb 5 E216 nn
Billiards (world championships). 1 19 32 25 24 16 12 § 1
Prof. golf (Eng. and American). 7 S20 1g. 3 I
Open golf (Eng. and American). 1 16-24 23 #5 8 <1
Amateur golf (Eng. and
PAIMETICAN)) foe a sea ee o ea Ti 2% 2A Aes 2 I

 

peaks. Very superior baseball performance is thus exhibited over a nar-
rower age range than is performance of lesser merit. And this latter
statement seems to hold also for a number of other behaviors—for
musical composition, for literary endeavor, and for certain kinds of
scientific achievement.?

For several types of skill that have been cited in this article it has
been possible to ascertain the one year (or age level) during which
men are most likely to exhibit their best performance. For several other
kinds of endeavor, it has been possible to determine only the three-,
the four-, or the five-year interval during which championship skill is
most likely to be displayed. For golf we have had to content ourselves
(for the present) with a ten-year interval.* Some may wonder whether
for most (or possibly all) activities of the kind that have been discussed
in this article, there does not exist one year (or age level) during which
groups of individuals will be most likely to exhibit their very best
ability. The assembled data suggest, but they do not validate, this
hypothesis. These data do demonstrate that, given sufficient time and
cooperation, it will be possible to determine whether or not the fore-

*Data were assembled separately for 415 golfers who won either first or second
place in amateur, professional, and open contests. The five-year interval of maximum

proficiency was ages 24 to 28 inclusive. But, as has already been indicated, the ages
of maximum proficiency vary with the type of golfing contest that is under consideration.