Stop it! Relationship between sport expertise and response inhibition in elite athletes
IntroductionThe dynamic structure of sport games forces players to make time-sensitive decisions and to initiate actions that may then have to be canceled in response to sudden changes in the game situation. Whether and up to which time already initiated movements can still be inhibited is an import...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2023-06-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1192483/full |
| _version_ | 1797810968068096000 |
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| author | Marie-Therese Fleddermann Lukas Reichert Björn Wieland Karen Zentgraf |
| author_facet | Marie-Therese Fleddermann Lukas Reichert Björn Wieland Karen Zentgraf |
| author_sort | Marie-Therese Fleddermann |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | IntroductionThe dynamic structure of sport games forces players to make time-sensitive decisions and to initiate actions that may then have to be canceled in response to sudden changes in the game situation. Whether and up to which time already initiated movements can still be inhibited is an important criterion for game performance in elite sport. Research indicates that elite athletes show superior motor inhibition performance compared to recreational athletes. However, no study has examined whether differences also emerge among professional elite athletes themselves. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate whether motor inhibition performance is a differential feature among elite athletes, and whether inhibition performance increases with greater expertise.MethodsIn total of 106 elite athletes (ice hockey, basketball, volleyball, American football, handball, and soccer) completed a PC-based procedure to determine motor inhibition performance using the stop-signal reaction time (SSRT) task for hands and feet. In addition, an expertise score was determined for each elite athlete. Multiple linear regression was used to calculate the relationship between expertise and SSRT.ResultsResults showed that the expertise score of the elite athletes was between 3.7 and 11.7 out of 16 possible points (MExpertise = 6.8 points, SD = 1.76). The average SSRT of the hands was 224.0 ms (SD = 35.0); of the feet, 257.9 ms (SD = 48.5). Regression results showed a significant relationship between expertise and SSRT (F(2,101) = 9.38, p = 0.04, R2 = 0.06). SSRTs of the hands were significant predictors of expertise (b = −0.23, t = −2.1, p = 0.04).DiscussionTaken together, results suggest that elite athletes with higher expertise outperform elite athletes with lower expertise, indicating that it is possible to differentiate within elite athletes with respect to inhibition performance of the hands. However, whether expertise affects inhibition performance or vice versa cannot be answered at present. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-13T07:16:40Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-0b5fe0006b2e4e4ab4515c82e204ad5c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-13T07:16:40Z |
| publishDate | 2023-06-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-0b5fe0006b2e4e4ab4515c82e204ad5c2023-06-05T05:02:35ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782023-06-011410.3389/fpsyg.2023.11924831192483Stop it! Relationship between sport expertise and response inhibition in elite athletesMarie-Therese FleddermannLukas ReichertBjörn WielandKaren ZentgrafIntroductionThe dynamic structure of sport games forces players to make time-sensitive decisions and to initiate actions that may then have to be canceled in response to sudden changes in the game situation. Whether and up to which time already initiated movements can still be inhibited is an important criterion for game performance in elite sport. Research indicates that elite athletes show superior motor inhibition performance compared to recreational athletes. However, no study has examined whether differences also emerge among professional elite athletes themselves. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate whether motor inhibition performance is a differential feature among elite athletes, and whether inhibition performance increases with greater expertise.MethodsIn total of 106 elite athletes (ice hockey, basketball, volleyball, American football, handball, and soccer) completed a PC-based procedure to determine motor inhibition performance using the stop-signal reaction time (SSRT) task for hands and feet. In addition, an expertise score was determined for each elite athlete. Multiple linear regression was used to calculate the relationship between expertise and SSRT.ResultsResults showed that the expertise score of the elite athletes was between 3.7 and 11.7 out of 16 possible points (MExpertise = 6.8 points, SD = 1.76). The average SSRT of the hands was 224.0 ms (SD = 35.0); of the feet, 257.9 ms (SD = 48.5). Regression results showed a significant relationship between expertise and SSRT (F(2,101) = 9.38, p = 0.04, R2 = 0.06). SSRTs of the hands were significant predictors of expertise (b = −0.23, t = −2.1, p = 0.04).DiscussionTaken together, results suggest that elite athletes with higher expertise outperform elite athletes with lower expertise, indicating that it is possible to differentiate within elite athletes with respect to inhibition performance of the hands. However, whether expertise affects inhibition performance or vice versa cannot be answered at present.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1192483/fullSSRTSSTexecutive functionssport gamesopen-skill sport |
| spellingShingle | Marie-Therese Fleddermann Lukas Reichert Björn Wieland Karen Zentgraf Stop it! Relationship between sport expertise and response inhibition in elite athletes Frontiers in Psychology SSRT SST executive functions sport games open-skill sport |
| title | Stop it! Relationship between sport expertise and response inhibition in elite athletes |
| title_full | Stop it! Relationship between sport expertise and response inhibition in elite athletes |
| title_fullStr | Stop it! Relationship between sport expertise and response inhibition in elite athletes |
| title_full_unstemmed | Stop it! Relationship between sport expertise and response inhibition in elite athletes |
| title_short | Stop it! Relationship between sport expertise and response inhibition in elite athletes |
| title_sort | stop it relationship between sport expertise and response inhibition in elite athletes |
| topic | SSRT SST executive functions sport games open-skill sport |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1192483/full |
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