Fatigue caused by exercise or mentally demanding tasks can lead to an alteration in the cognitive functioning of athletes. Therefore, it is important to investigate whether and to what extent fatigue influences athletes cognitive performance in sports with high cognitive demands. This scoping review aims to map research articles dealing with the effects of acute fatigue on players cognitive performance in team sports. The main inclusion criterium was that studies had to examine the impact of any form of acute fatigue on (i) cognitive functions only, (ii) reactive agility, (iii) sport-specific skills with reactive components included. In total, 12 articles met our inclusion criteria. Results indicated that prolonged exercise causes a decline in the decision-making, attention, and perception abilities of players. Accuracy of sport-specific tasks with cognitive components included rather deteriorated after both exercise and mental fatigue inducement. However, alteration of players cognitive performance depends on the intensity and duration of fatigue-inducing tasks. Mental fatigue and consequent decision-making deterioration can be triggered by at least 30 min of a Stroop color-word task as well as smartphone application exposure. Analysis of the studies revealed a lack of research investigating the acute effect of fatigue on reactive agility, along with cognitive functions such as memory or learning. Due to possible acute negative effects of fatiguing exercise or mentally demanding tasks on human cognition, future research should consider the examination of different types and intensities of exercise on players’ cognitive performance.

The physical and psychological load of small-sided games (SSGs) can affect players’ neuromuscular and cognitive functions. Yet, little is known about the acute performance changes after such a specific exercise in young soccer players and their association with exercise load applied. This study investigates i) the neuromuscular and perceptual-cognitive response to the SSG exercise load, and ii) the relationship between pre- and post-SSG changes in variables of performance and the respective exercise load in youth soccer players. Sixteen participants (13.6 ± 0.5 years) underwent a 30-min SSG 4v4 + GK protocol. Prior to and after the SSG they performed countermovement jump (CMJ), planned and reactive Y-shaped agility tests (PA, RA), and go/no-go task (GNG). Their subjective perception of fatigue was evaluated by visual analog scale. Fatigue induced by SSG (perception of fatigue increased by 41.56%, p = .001, g = 4.15) increased PA time (4.04%, p = .002, g = .97), RA time (6.45%, p = .003, g = 1.16), and number of errors in the response inhibition task (87.1%, p = .023, r_c = .57), whilst decreased CMJ height (−6.65%, p = .014, g = .56). These performance deteriorations were not significantly associated with neither internal nor external load variables. However, a less pronounced drop in performance was related to external load variables, i.e., ∆CMJ height and ∆RA time correlated with very high-speed running (r_s = .66, p = .006; r_s = −.50, p = .022; respectively) and maximal speed (r = .54, p = .032; r = −.52, p = .037; respectively), whilst ∆PA time was associated with high-intensity accelerations (r_s = −.76, p = .002). These findings indicate that fatigue induced by SSG affects both planned and reactive agility, decision-making in response inhibition task, and explosive strength in youth soccer players regardless of significant contribution of any robust internal or external load variables. Nonetheless, high-intensity actions within SSG partially compensate for the decrements in their agility performance and explosive strength. The load variables encountered during SSG do not fully reflect youth players’ neuromuscular and perceptual-cognitive responses to sport-specific exercise.

Reactive agility is one of the most important skills in basketball. However, the question remains to what extent the sensory and motor components of agility contribute to specific performance in the game. This study investigated the relationship between indicators of game-specific performance and perceptual-cognitive and physical aspects of agility performance in youth skilled basketball players. A group of 16 basketball players (age 15.5 ± 0.9 years) performed visual perception tasks, divided attention tasks, simple and choice reaction tests, along with Y-shaped and Lane agility tests. Their specific game performance was evaluated using the game statistics analysis. The visual perception score significantly correlated with assists (r = 0.850, p = 0.000), game efficiency (r = 0.760, p = 0.001) and total points scored (r = 0.715, p = 0.003). Coefficients of determination showed that visual perception explained 72.3% of the variance in assists, 57.8% in game efficiency and 51.1% in total points scored. These findings indicate that specific game performance in basketball is not associated with sensory and physical aspects of agility skills in youth players. An exception is visual perception, which plays a significant role in their performance. Players with better visual perception are able to dish out more assists, are more efficient in the game and score more points overall.

Background: The motor response to human visual stimuli is unique and differs from the reaction to light-based visual stimuli. While laboratory-based tests offer valuable insights into athletes’ basic perceptual–motor abilities, their translation to actual sports-specific tests is limited. Methods: Following a thorough warm-up, 44 collegiate-level male soccer players (age: 24.4 ± 2.5 y, mass: 63.01 ± 7.3 kg, stature: 167.62 ± 6.3 cm) from a tertiary institution completed the following tests: Sports Vision Test (20-light proactive speed test), 40 m sprint test (split times over 5, 10, 20 and 40 m), and a live Reactive Agility Test (RAT) entailing them to sprint, change direction either towards their dominant limb or non-dominant limb in response to a live tester, and sprint again. Results: Numerous moderate correlations were seen between the RAT and various sprint distances (r > 0.3, ES > 0.3, p < 0.05). The reaction speed relationship between the light-based (SVT) and live stimuli (RAT) test yielded a weak relationship (r > 0.4, ES > 0.5, p < 0.05). Furthermore, the light-based hand–eye coordination speed did not predict acceleration or top speed, while the total RAT time did explain 10.5% of top speed (40 m). No significant differences in the SVT average and total time were found among playing positions. Conclusions: The limited correlations observed indicate that light-based reaction training alone may not be sufficient to translate to field-based reactive agility; therefore, training should integrate perceptual–cognitive and motor demands. Future research should refine laboratory-based tests by incorporating contextual elements to enhance ecological validity and further investigate the transferability of these skills from controlled settings to real-world game scenarios.

Players in European soccer academies frequently advance from the lower to the higher age group. Underdevelopment of their strength and speed capacities increases the risk of injury. On the one hand, this study compared the isometric strength and speed performance of elite youth soccer players regarding age groups. Further, it aimed to recognize differences in relative isometric strength between the national team selected and non-selected academy players. Eighty-three academy players from five age groups of single academy were compared in isometric peak force production in a bilateral knee flexion test (ISO 30°), abduction and adduction tests (ABD and ADD 60°). Their sprinting speed was evaluated by 10 and 30 meter sprint tests, and the 505 change of direction test (COD 180°). Significant age group effects were discovered for absolute isometric strength (p = < 0.001; η² = 0.40–0.43) but relative strength differed only between U15 and U19 in ISO 30° (p = 0.04; ES = 1.04). The U14 players were slower than all groups (ES = 0.95–3.68) excluding the U15. These players were slower than U16, U17, and U19 (ES = 1.07–2.37), while U17 overpassed U19 in 180° COD (p = 0.02; ES = 0.22). Consequently, sprinting speed demands are of special interest in the transition of players from the U15 to the U16 age group. The national team players were not relatively stronger in ISO 30° (–0.08 N/kg, p = 0.70; ES = 0.10), ABD 60° (–0.14 N/kg, p = 0.59; ES = 0.13), and ADD 60° (–0.33 N/kg, p = 0.22; ES = 0.31) compared to their academy peers This suggests that maximal relative isometric strength is not of special interest for the selection of academy soccer players to the national team squad.

This study investigates the concurrent validity of the Sportreact single-beam timing system with a standard dual-beam system for the evaluation of linear and change of direction speed. Forty-two youth soccer players (age = 12.9 ± 1.1 years) performed linear sprints (10 and 30 m splits) and 505 Agility Test. The times were measured by both systems simultaneously. The single-beam timing system was set at a height of 64 cm from the ground, while the dual-beam system was set at 67 and 90 cm for the lower and upper beam, respectively. The results showed very high intraclass correlation coefficients for the 10 m sprint (ICC (95% CI); 0.95 (0.93–0.98)), 30 m sprint (0.99 (0.98–0.99)), and 505 Agility Test (0.98 (0.98–0.99)), with a low typical error of estimates (TEEs (%) = 2.16%, 1.12%, and 1.05%, respectively). However, TEE of 0.046 s in the 10 m sprint test overlapped the smallest worthwhile change (≈0.030 s). Bland-Altman analyses showed 95% LoA ranging from −0.086 to 0.093 s for the 10 m sprint, −0.115 to 0.106 s for the 30 m sprint, and −0.055 to 0.049 for 505 agility tests. The Sportreact single-beam timing system provides a useful tool for linear sprint (≥30 m) and change of direction speed tests only when considering heterogeneous groups but not individual athletes. However, this system should not be used interchangeably with a dual-beam systems for the assessment of linear and change of direction sprint tests in youth team sport players.