The aim of this study was to analyse the effect of mental fatigue on passing decision‐making in professional soccer athletes. A controlled and counterbalanced cross‐over design was adopted consisting of three visits with a 1‐week interval between sessions. Twenty professional soccer male athletes participated in three randomized conditions divided into three visits: control, 15‐min Stroop task, and 30‐min Stroop task. Inhibitory control was accessed by the Stroop task (accuracy and response time) before and after induced mental fatigue protocol. The athletes played a training match (90‐min) following the experimental conditions. The Game Performance Assessment Instrument (GPAI) was used for the passing decision‐making analysis. The GPAI analysis showed impaired passing decision‐making performance following the 30‐min Stroop task compared with the 15‐min and control condition (F _(2,17) = 6.99, p = .01). Moreover, an increase in response time during the Stroop task was found following 30‐min Stroop task condition (F _(2,17) = 6.57, p = .03) compared to 15‐min of Stroop task and control conditions. Prolonged cognitive tasks may be considered a mediating factor in passing decision‐making performance in male professional soccer athletes throughout a full‐length training match. Thus, athletes should avoid highly demanding‐cognitive tasks before a soccer match. Future studies are required to explore more ecological cognitive tasks to induce mental fatigue (i.e. smartphones and video‐games) and their effects on other performance indicators (e.g. physical, technical, tactical) in a full‐length training match setting.

This study aimed to analyze the effect of playing videogames and using social media applications on smartphones on decision-making and countermovement jump (CMJ) performance in amateur boxers. Twenty one boxers were enrolled in the study and were randomly assigned to all three experimental conditions [smartphone (30SMA), videogame (30VID), and control (CON)]. CMJ was measured before and 30-min after each experimental condition. The athletes ran simulated combat recorded for decision-making analysis. The boxers watched coaching videos (CON), used social media applications on smartphones (30SMA), and played video games (30VID) for 30 min just before the combat simulation. Both attack and defense decision-making performance were worse in both 30SMA and 30VID conditions compared to the CON condition (p = 0.001). Regarding CMJ, despite no condition effect (p = 0.96) been obtained, a time effect (p = 0.001) was observed; So, it was found a decrease in CMJ performance after all experimental conditions (p = 0.001), with no difference between them. Using social media applications on smartphones and playing video game impairs decision-making performance in amateur boxers, with no harms for CMJ performance.

This study aimed to verify the occurrence of the relative age effect (RAE) in male elite young handball athletes according to the playing position and its association with team performance in a World Championship. Data from 383 handball athletes from 24 countries who participated in the 7^th World Men’s Championship in the under-19 category were analyzed. RAE was investigated from the birth trimester of the athletes, their playing position, and final ranking in the Championship. The results showed an overrepresentation of athletes born in the first two trimesters (Q1 and Q2) (χ²₍₃₎ = 32.97; p < 0.001, ω = 0.29). The analysis of the athlete’s position showed that most wings (χ²₍₃₎ = 18.37; p < 0.001, ω = 0.32) and backs (χ²₍₃₎ = 12.51; p = 0.006, ω = 0.34) were born in the first trimesters (Q1 and Q2). The ranking in the Championship presented no significant association with the date of the birth (p > 0.05). The results showed the existence of the RAE in youth handball elite athletes, especially for the back and wing positions. However, the strategy of selecting is questionable once the presence of RAE was not associated with competitive success.

The aim of this study was to compare the acute effects of resistance training to failure (TF) and non-failure (TNF) with volume-load equalization on neuromuscular performance in recreationally resistance-trained adults. Twenty-two trained men (age 21.4 ± 2.3 years) were included in a controlled, randomized, and design cross-over investigation with two experimental conditions and one-week of washout interval between them. The participants performed parallel back-squat adopting TF or TNF with volume, intensity, and rest between sets equalized. Countermovement jump (CMJ) height and peak power (PP) were used as mechanical indicators of neuromuscular performance. The mechanical variables were assessed in five moments (pre-experiment, post 15-s, 10-min, 20-min, and 30-min). When compared with the TNF condition, TF presented greater decrement on CMJ height (P < 0.001) and PP (P < 0.001) performance. The CMJ height and PP performance in parallel back-squat exercise following the TNF condition returned to the pre-experiment values 10-min after (P > 0.05). On the other hand, the TF condition promoted greater decrement in CMJ and PP performance compared with the pre-experiment and TNF protocol even 20–30 min later (P < 0.05). These findings suggest that TF promotes greater acute impairment on neuromuscular performance even when volume-load is equalized.