The Effects Of Warm-up On The Performance Of E-sport Players

Abstract

PURPOSE: e-Sport has been officially declared as a medal event by Olympic Council. e-Sport players require similar abilities with traditional athletes, such as quick reaction, precise aiming, and hand-eye coordination. It is widely accepted that warm-up before traditional sports is vital for optimum performance. This study aimed to explore the effects of warm-up on the performance of e-Sport players. METHODS: Thirty-four First-person shooting (FPS) e-sports players (age: 18-22 years, height: 176.89 ± 7.14 cm, weight: 68.39 ± 13.83 kg, BMI: 21.76 ± 3.79 and average training years: 4.55 ± 1.00 years) were recruited in this study. They conducted fixed/moving target shooting tasks in two conditions: with and without warm-up (Running: 65% of maximum heart rate; Finger Exercise: Palms Rub, Thumb Touch, Make a Fist, Thumb Flex, Finger Lift, Palm massage) conditions, using a common training program, Aimbooster. The interval between the conditions was one week. Paired t-tests or Wilcoxon signed ranks tests were conducted to compare the performance between the conditions. RESULTS: Under with warm-up condition, the accuracy increased (With = 67.4 ± 8.2%, without = 53.5 ± 8.5%, p < 0.001), the scores(Inner ring: 3 points, Middle ring: 2 points, Outer ring: 1 points) increased (With = 46.18 ± 5.21, Without = 31.71 ± 5.85,p < 0.001) and the reaction time decreased (With = 431 ± 38 ms, without = 445 ± 40 ms, p = 0.002) at moving shooting task, and the accuracy (With = 83.3 ± 6.1%, without = 78.3 ± 6.1%, p < 0.001), the scores increased (With = 312.94 ± 35.69, Without = 286.91 ± 36.77, p < 0.001) and the hits (the number of successfully hits the targets in 60 sec; With = 143.4 ± 13.3, without = 127.4 ± 13.4, p < 0.001) increased at fixed target shooting task, compared to without warm-up condition. CONCLUSION: Warm-up improved the performance of e-Sport players in both fixed and moving target shooting tasks.