Abstract
Mental fatigue can impair physical, technical, and tactical performance in sports. Since most previous research used general cognitive tasks to elicit mental fatigue, the aim of this study was to investigate whether a more sport-specific task could induce the effects of mental fatigue and impair the subsequent physical and technical performance in a soccer small-sided game. Ten soccer players performed two small-sided games on two different days in a crossover design. Before each small-sided game, they performed a video-based tactical task (30 min) and a control task (documentary watching, 30 min) in a randomized and counterbalanced order. Mental effort was measured through a visual analog scale after the tactical and control tasks. Subjective ratings of perceived exertion were assessed through the RPE questionnaire after the end of the SSG. Physical performance was assessed during the SSG through GPS technology. Results showed no differences (p > 0.05) in physical performance between the two conditions. None of the technical variables were negatively affected by the video-based tactical condition, with the number of total passes (p = 0.003; ES = 0.72 medium) and successful passes (p = 0.003; ES = 0.82 large) results even improved by the video-based tactical task. The mental effort required by the video-tactical task was significantly higher than the control task (p = 0.002; ES = 2.09 huge). However, overall RPE did not differ between conditions. The video-based tactical task did not elicit mental fatigue and did not impair subsequent physical and technical performance. The higher ecological validity of the task and the higher motivation of the participants might have contributed to the results.
Highlights
The mental effort required by the tactical task was rated consistently higher than that required by the control task (p = 0.002; ES = 2.09 large) (Figure 4), the Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE) collected after the small-sided games (SSGs) revealed no differences between the two conditions, meaning that players eventually perceived both overall conditions (PRE-TASK + SSG) as fatiguing (Figure 5)
This aspect supports the findings of previous research, which showed that an increased perception of effort is the primary indicator and medium of performance impairments related to mental fatigue [12–14,19,21]
Our study showed that a 30 min video-based tactical task did not elicit mental fatigue and did not impair subsequent physical and technical performance in a soccer SSG
Summary
Introduction with regard to jurisdictional claims in Situational team sports such as soccer are complex activities involving a combination of physical, cognitive, tactical, psychological, and emotional skills [1–4] Such activities require players to constantly monitor the dynamic and ever-changing game environment, retrieve and analyze the most relevant information to quickly make the most appropriate choice, according to the teammates and opponents’ behaviors and other space–time variables. Considering the multifactorial genesis of fatigue beyond the only metabolic and neuromuscular perspective [5], several authors highlighted the cognitive demands of play, as well the magnitude of their loads in relation to the onset of fatigue [6,7] Managing such complex situations during an intense and prolonged physical activity classifies soccer and other situational team sports as mentally fatiguing activities [6,8,9], to the point that such performances have been defined as the “brain’s biggest challenge” [8,10].
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