Digit ratio (2D:4D) and physical fitness in early adolescence: A potential criterion for talent identification?

Year 2025, Volume: 11 Issue: 4, 224 - 232, 31.08.2025

Emsal Çağla Avcu , Ali Emre Yaşar , Vedat Çınar

https://doi.org/10.31459/turkjkin.1685391

Abstract

A low digit ratio (2D:4D), as an indicator of prenatal androgen exposure, is assumed to be associated with higher physical fitness and athletic performance. This study aims to examine the relationship between the 2D:4D and certain physical fitness components during early adolescence. The study was conducted as a cross-sectional research. Early adolescents without any prior sports background voluntarily participated in the study. In the study, the participants’ right and left hand 2D:4D were measured, and their physical fitness was assessed using tests for handgrip strength, flexibility, agility, speed and power performance. The findings indicated that there was no significant correlation between the 2D:4D and all of the physical fitness components involved in this study in both female and male participants. In the gender-based evaluation, it was determined that the 2D:4D was higher in females. The results show that the 2D:4D is not significantly correlated with handgrip strength, flexibility, agility, speed and power performance in individuals without any prior sports background during early adolescence. In this context, the use of the 2D:4D as a potential biological indicator for talent selection was not supported in this age group and sample.

Keywords

Early adolescent , physical fitness , physical performance , sports ability.

Ethical Statement

The study was approved by the Fırat University Non-Interventional Research Ethics Committee (25.05.2023/07-35).

Supporting Institution

This study was supported under the project number 1919B012200551 within the scope of the TÜBİTAK 2209-A Research Project Support Program for Undergraduate Students, 2022/1 term.

Project Number

Project number 1919B012200551 (TÜBİTAK 2209-A Research Project Support Program for Undergraduate Students, 2022/1 term)

References

• Agha-Alinejad, H., Farzad, B., Akbari, M., Moffit, D. M., & Dakhili, A. (2019). Digit ratios and motor and health-related fitness in pre-adolescent females. Ann Human Biol, 46(3), 225-230.
• Akbulut, T., Çınar, V., Söver, C., & Karaman, M. (2020). Investigation of effects four-week core training program on some physical parameters. Gaziantep University Journal of Sport Science, 5(1), 47-56.
• Baj-Korpak, J., Stelmach, M. J., Zaworski, K., Lichograj, P., & Wochna, M. (2022). Assessment of motor abilities and physical fitness in youth in the context of talent identification—OSF test. Int J Environ Res Public Health, 19(21), 14303.
• Başkaya, G., Ersoy, A., & Karavelioğlu, M. B. (2018). Investigation of the relationshıp between 2P:4P finger ratios of children aged 8-10 years and some motoric characteristics. Nigde University Physical Education and Sport Sciences Journal, 12(2), 90-98.
• Bennett, M., Manning, J. T., Cook, C. J., & Kilduff, L. P. (2010). Digit ratio (2D: 4D) and performance in elite rugby players. J Sports Sci, 28(13), 1415-1421. doi: 10.1080/02640414.2010.510143
• Bernardino, V., Rebelo, A., Mendes, P. D., Cruz, J., Vaz, V., Dos Santos, J. V., & Coelho, M. J. (2025). Association between the 2D:4D ratio and sports performance in athletes: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Retos: Nuevas Tendencias en Educación Física, Deporte y Recreación, (65), 806-845. doi: 10.47197/retos.v65.110121
• Cohen, D. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). Hillsdale: NJ: Erlbaum.
• Crewther, B. T., Pastuszak, A., Sadowska, D., Górski, M., & Cook, C. J. (2022). The digit ratio (2D: 4D) and testosterone co-predict vertical jump performance in athletic boys: Evidence of organizational and activational effects of testosterone on physical fitness. Physiol Behav, 251, 113816.
• Disterhaupt, J. W., Fitzgerald, J. S., Rhoades, J. L., & Tomkinson, G. R. (2022). The relationship between the digit ratio (2D: 4D) and vertical jump performance in young athletes. Am J Hum Biol, 34(3), e23679.
• Eghbali, E. (2016). The relationship between digit ratio (2D: 4D) and phy sical fitness in boys 7 to 13 years. Physical Activity Review, 4, 154-162.
• Eklund, E., Ekström, L., Thörngren, J. O., Ericsson, M., Berglund, B., & Hirschberg, A. L. (2020). Digit ratio (2D: 4D) and physical performance in female Olympic athletes. Front Endocrinol, 11, 292.
• Ferreira, C. P., Silvino, V. O., Trevisano, R. G., de Moura, R. C., Almeida, S. S., & Pereira dos Santos, M. A. (2024). Influence of genetic polymorphism on sports talent performance versus non-athletes: A systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Sports Sci Med R, 16(1), 223.
• Glatthorn, J. F., Gouge, S., Nussbaumer, S., Stauffacher, S., Impellizzeri, F. M., & Maffiuletti, N. A. (2011). Validity and reliability of Optojump photoelectric cells for estimating vertical jump height. J Strength Cond Res, 25(2), 556-560.
• González-Devesa, D., López-Eguía, A., Amoedo, L., & Ayán-Pérez, C. (2024). Associations between agility, the relative age effect, siblings, and digit ratio (D2: D4) in children and adolescents. Children, 11(8), 893.
• Gower, B., Russell, M., Tomkinson, J. M., Peterson, S. J., Klug, M. G., & Tomkinson, G. R. (2025). The relationship between digit ratio (2D: 4D) and aspects of cardiorespiratory fitness: A systematic review and meta‐analysis. Am J Hum Biol, 37(4), e70040.
• Güllich, A., Macnamara, B. N., & Hambrick, D. Z. (2022). What makes a champion? Early multidisciplinary practice, not early specialization, predicts world-class performance. Perspect Psychol Sci, 17(1), 6-29.
• Handelsman, D. J., Hirschberg, A. L., & Bermon, S. (2018). Circulating testosterone as the hormonal basis of sex differences in athletic performance. Endocr Rev, 39(5), 803-829.
• Hönekopp, J., & Schuster, M. (2010). A meta-analysis on 2D: 4D and athletic prowess: Substantial relationships but neither hand out-predicts the other. Personality and Individual Differences, 48(1), 4-10.
• Hönekopp, J., & Watson, S., (2010). Meta-analysis of digit ratio 2D:4D shows greater sex difference in the right hand. Am J Hum Biol, 22(5), 619–630.
• Hsu, C. C., Fong, T. H., Chang, H. M., Su, B., Chi, C. P., Kan, N. W., & Hsu, M. C. (2018). Low second-to-fourth digit ratio has high explosive power? A prepubertal study. J Strength Cond Res, 32(7), 2091-2095.
• Hull, M. J., Schranz, N. K., Manning, J. T., & Tomkinson, G. R. (2015). Relationships between digit ratio (2D: 4D) and female competitive rowing performance. American Journal of Human Biology, 27(2), 157-163.
• Hunter, S. K., & Senefeld, J. W. (2024). Sex differences in human performance. J Physiol, 602(17), 4129-4156.
• Hunter, S. K., Angadi, S. S., Bhargava, A., Harper, J., Hirschberg, A. L., Levine, B. D., Moreau, K. L., Nokoff, N. J., Stachenfeld, N. S., & Bermon, S. (2023). The biological basis of sex differences in athletic performance: consensus statement for the American College of Sports Medicine. Translational Journal of the ACSM, 8(4), 1-33.
• Kasielska-Trojan, A., Manning, J. T., Kałuża, M., Głowacka, E., & Antoszewski, B. (2024). First trimester maternal sex steroids and the digit ratios of mothers and children. Early Hum Dev, 195, 106067.
• Keshavarz, M., Bayati, M., Farzad, B., Dakhili, A., & Agha-Alinejad, H. (2017). The second to fourth digit ratio in elite and non-elite Greco-Roman wrestlers. J Hum Kinet, 60, 145.
• Kilduff, L. P., Cook, C. J., & Manning, J. T. (2011). Digit ratio (2D: 4D) and performance in male surfers. J Strength Cond Res, 25(11), 3175-3180.
• Kim, T. B., & Kim, K. H. (2016). Why is digit ratio correlated to sports performance? J Exerc Rehabil, 12(6), 515.
• Klapprodt, K. L., Fitzgerald, J. S., Short, S. E., Manning, J. T., & Tomkinson, G. R. (2018). Relationships between the digit ratio (2D: 4D) and game‐related statistics in professional and semi‐professional male basketball players. Am J Hum Biol, 30(6), e23182.
• Lang, J. J., Zhang, K., Agostinis-Sobrinho, C., Andersen, L. B., Basterfield, L., Berglind, D., ... & Fraser, B. J. (2023). Top 10 international priorities for physical fitness research and surveillance among children and adolescents: a twin-panel Delphi study. Sports Med, 53(2), 549-564.
• Lazić, A., Bratić, M., Stamenković, S., Andrašić, S., Stojiljković, N., & Trajković, N. (2021). Knee pads do not affect physical performance in young female volleyball players. Children, 8(9), 748.
• Lehnert, M., Holík, R., Prycl, D., Sigmund, M., Sigmundová, D., & Malý, T. (2024). Talent identification in football: Different effects of maturation on sprinting, change of direction and jumping in 13-year-old players. Appl Sci, 14(13), 5571.
• Leyhr, D., Kelava, A., Raabe, J., & Höner, O. (2018). Longitudinal motor performance development in early adolescence and its relationship to adult success: An 8-year prospective study of highly talented soccer players. PloS One, 13(5), e0196324.
• Manning, J. T., & Fink, B. (2023). Digit ratio (2D: 4D) and its relationship to foetal and maternal sex steroids: A mini-review. Early Hum Dev, 183, 105799.
• Manning, J. T., Scutt, D., Wilson, J., & Lewis-Jones, D. I. (1998). The ratio of 2nd to 4th digit length: a predictor of sperm numbers and concentrations of testosterone, luteinizing hormone and oestrogen. Hum Reprod, 13(11), 3000–3004. doi: 10.1093/humrep/13.11.3000
• Manning, J. T. (2002). The ratio of 2nd to 4th digit length and performance in skiing. J Sports Med Phys Fitness, 42(4), 446-450.
• Muyor, J. M., Vaquero-Cristóbal, R., Alacid, F., & López-Miñarro, P. A. (2014). Criterion-related validity of sit-and-reach and toe-touch tests as a measure of hamstring extensibility in athletes. J Strength Cond Res, 28(2), 546-555.
• Ortega, F. B., Ruiz, J. R., Castillo, M. J., & Sjöström, M. (2008). Physical fitness in childhood and adolescence: a powerful marker of health. Int J Obes, 32(1), 1-11.
• Parpa, K., Manning, J. T., Kobus, M., Mason, L., & Michaelides, M. (2024). The associations between digit ratio (2D: 4D and right–left 2D: 4D), maximal oxygen consumption and ventilatory thresholds in professional male football players. Am J Hum Biol, 36(6), e24047.
• Pasanen, B. E., Tomkinson, J. M., Dufner, T. J., Park, C. W., Fitzgerald, J. S., & Tomkinson, G. R. (2022). The relationship between digit ratio (2D: 4D) and muscular fitness: A systematic review and meta‐analysis. Am J Hum Biol, 34(3), e23657.
• Peeters, M. W., Van Aken, K., & Claessens, A. L. (2013). The left hand second to fourth digit ratio (2D: 4D) is not related to any physical fitness component in adolescent girls. PloS One, 8(4), e59766.
• Pruszkowska-Przybylska, P., Sitek, A., Rosset, I., Sobalska-Kwapis, M., Słomka, M., Strapagiel, D., & Żądzińska, E. (2018). Association of the 2D: 4D digit ratio with body composition among the Polish children aged 6–13 years. Early Hum Dev, 124, 26-32.
• Ranson, R., Stratton, G., & Taylor, S. R. (2015). Digit ratio (2D: 4D) and physical fitness (Eurofit test battery) in school children. Early Hum Dev, 91(5), 327-331.
• Richards, G., Medland, S. E., & Beaton, A. A. (2021). Digit ratio (2D: 4D) and handedness: A meta-analysis of the available literature. Laterality, 26(4), 421-484.
• Silventoinen, K., Maia, J., Jelenkovic, A., Pereira, S., Gouveia, É., Antunes, A., Thomis, M., Lefevre, J., Kaprio, J., & Freitas, D. (2021). Genetics of somatotype and physical fitness in children and adolescents. Am J Hum Biol, 33(3), e23470.
• Tabachnick, B.G., & Fidell, L .S. 2013. Using multivariate statistics (Sixth Edition). Boston, MA: Pearson. Tomkinson, J. M., & Tomkinson, G. R. (2017). Digit ratio (2D: 4D) and muscular strength in adolescent boys. Early Hum Dev, 113, 7-9.
• Zhang, Y., Cao, R., Li, W., Fu, H., Zhu, J., Xu, X., Wang, R., Peng, Z., & Fu, L. (2024). An association between left‐hand digit ratio (2D: 4D) and anthropometric indexes in chinese children and adolescents aged 8–15 years in bengbu city. Am J Hum Biol, 36(11), e24160.