Role of perceptual and motor abilities in instep-kicking performance of young soccer players

The present study made a dynamic analysis of the ground reaction forces developed on the supporting foot during instep kicking to investigate the relation between specific perceptual and motor abilities and the performance of this skill. 45 young soccer players (11-13 years of age) participated in a series of laboratory tests assessing simple, choice, and discrimination reaction time, sustained attention, depth perception, and sense of kinesthesis. Kicking performance measured by the amount of impulse (calculated as the integral of force) developed on the supporting foot during kicking. There was a significant correlation of the kicking impulse with choice reaction time (r = -.54) and attention reaction time (r = -.41). Stepwise regression analysis indicated that choice reaction time accounted for 29% of the variation in the anterior/posterior kicking impulse and 16.4% of the variation in the medio/lateral kicking impulse. The significant relation between kicking impulse and measures concerning speed of information processing suggests that processes associated with fast response selection may play an important role in instep-kicking performance. These findings can provide useful information for designing of training schemes and testing protocols.     

The commitment of young soccer players

The main purpose of this study was to test the Sport Commitment Model in young soccer players. Participants' ( N = 437) age ranged from 14 to 16 years. Based on the sport commitment model proposed by Scanlan and colleagues, 6 scales and 28-items constitute the Sport Commitment Questionnaire (SCQ). Results of this study provide some support for the reliability and validity of the SCQ, using a sample of young soccer players. Reliability analysis provided acceptable internal consistency for four scales: Sport Commitment, Sport Enjoyment, Involvement Alternatives and Social Constraints. Sport Enjoyment (Beta= .56, p <.001) and Involvement Alternatives (Beta= -.40, p <.001) were the strongest sport commitment predictors. Further studies with a broader age range, different genders, and other sports or competitive levels are required to continue analyzing the sport commitment model.     

Assessments of young soccer players: a holistic approach

Use of scores on a single test of endurance which discriminates potentially talented under-age players' performance is insufficient for prediction of later performance, but such data could be useful when considered with other test scores.     

Development of sensorimotor synchronization abilities: Motor and cognitive components

The aim of the present study was to examine both the development of sensorimotor synchronization in children in the age range from 5 to 8 years and the involvement of motor and cognitive capacities. Children performed a spontaneous motor tempo task and a synchronization–continuation task using an external auditory stimulus presented at three different inter-stimulus intervals: 500, 700, and 900 ms. Their motor and cognitive abilities (short-term memory, working memory, and attention) were also assessed with various neuropsychological tests. The results showed some developmental changes in synchronization capacities, with the regularity of tapping and the ability to slow down the tapping rate improving with age. The age-related differences in tapping were nevertheless greater in the continuation phase than in the synchronization phase. In addition, the development of motor capacities explained the age-related changes in performance for the synchronization phase and the continuation phase, although working memory capacities were also involved in the interindividual differences in performance in the continuation phase. The continuation phase is thus more cognitively demanding than the synchronization phase. Consequently, the improvement in sensorimotor synchronization during childhood is related to motor development in the case of synchronization but also to cognitive development with regard to the reproduction and maintenance of the rhythm in memory.     

Female and male soccer players recruited different cognitive processes when generating creative soccer moves

Previous research has indicated that in several domains, women and men may use different cognitive processes along with different neurophysiological activation to achieve similar behavioral performance. The present study extended this line of research to the novel field of soccer playing. In female and male active soccer players, we investigated patterns of brain activation and functional connectivity of brain networks during imagination of creative soccer moves, using EEG methods that are well established in creativity research. Participants were presented with scenarios taken from real soccer games. Female and male soccer players showed comparable creative performance in their imagined moves to score a goal, which was rated by top qualified experts (UEFA A licensed soccer coaches). Notwithstanding, they differed with respect to their brain activation and functional connectivity of brain networks. While men exhibited relatively higher parietal/occipital task-related EEG alpha power, women showed significantly higher within-hemisphere functional coupling in the upper alpha band. The findings add important new evidence to the field of cognitive gender research in an applied, sports-related domain of creative cognition.     

Commitment, enjoyment and motivation in young soccer competitive players

Building upon Deci's and Ryan (1985) Self-determination theory as well as the sportive behavioral correlates of the model of Commitment (Scanlan et al., 1976), this study tries to establish the relationship between motivation and commitment in youth sport. For this purpose 454 young competitive soccer players answered the Sport Motivation Scale (SMS) and the Sport Commitment Questionnaire (SCQ) during the regular season. The SMS measures the three dimensions of the Motivational continuum (the Amotivation, the Extrinsic Motivation and the Intrinsic Motivation). The SCQ measures the Sportive Commitment and its composing factors such as the Enjoyment, the Alternatives to the sport, and the Social Pressure. Our findings provided a clear pattern of the influence of motivation in sport enjoyment and commitment, outlining the positive contribution of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation to enjoyment and commitment. Amotivation, contributes positively to alternatives to sport and negatively to enjoyment and commitment, It should be noted that extrinsic motivation has a higher contribution to enjoyment whereas intrinsic motivation has a higher contribution to commitment.     

Adaptation of the MSCI for the measurement of cohesion in Spanish young soccer players

This work describes the Spanish adaptation and studies the psychometric properties of Yukelson, Weinberg, and Jackson's Multidimensional Sport Cohesion Instrument (MSCI) with a sample of 173 soccer players. The Spanish version is composed of 22 items grouped in four factors: quality of teamwork (performance aspects), attraction to the group, valued roles and quality of teamwork (interpersonal relationships), that accounted for 53.30% of the total variance. Reliability coefficients (Cronbach's Alphas) for the factors ranged from .84 (factor 1) to .56 (factor 4). Suggestions are made for future research on the validity of the scale, mainly in terms of convergence with other multidimensional measures of sport cohesion.     

Excess of mixed-footedness among professional soccer players

This study concerns the distribution of footedness among professional soccer players (n=415) and nonsporting university students (n=430). Chi-squared showed that there were statistically significant differences between the proportion of mixed-footedness in the two groups (p<.0001). It appears that mixed-footedness or the ability to use both feet with an almost equal consistency is an important factor in the potential of individuals to reach high skill in soccer play. The mixed-footedness of these professional soccer players can be understood best in terms of both the nature of the game and genetic predisposition. This result is of direct interest in the context of those activities in which structural and functional biases in the lower extremities are important variables in acquisition and performance of motor skill.     

A developmental perspective on decision making in young soccer players: The role of executive functions

Lately, interest in both domain-specific and domain-general cognitive processes has increased as a means to explain soccer player expertise. While the two types of processes have mostly been studied separately, we sought to connect these lines of research by investigating the role of executive functions in soccer players’ decision making from a developmental perspective. As these cognitive processes as well as their relation might differ between age groups, we took a developmental perspective to better understand this link in a sample of N = 128 soccer players (M_age = 10.69 years, SD = 1.44). Two age groups (younger vs. older players) performed a video-based option-generation and decision-making task that used temporal occlusion. Additionally, executive functions were assessed with standardized computer-based tests. Results show a link between executive functions and sport-specific decision making, most prominent for working memory. Further, older players generated better options and showed better inhibition and cognitive flexibility than younger players. We suggest there is a crucial turning point in cognitive development around the age of 11 years.     

Interval endurance capacity of talented youth soccer players

The purpose of this study, in which 113 talented youth soccer players (M = 16.0 yr., SD = 1.5), selected by their age and level of performance participated, was to investigate interval endurance capacity needed to play at the highest level of competition in the age-category 12 through 18. Multivariate analyses of covariance with factors of level of performance and age category showed that players ages 16 through 18 years outscored the players ages 12 through 15 years on the interval endurance capacity (p < .05). In both age categories, elite players outscored less skilled players (p < .05). In the age category 12-15 years, the elite players participated more in soccer training than less skilled players (p < .05), whereas less skilled players participated more in additional training than the elite players (p < .05). No differences were found for total training (p > .05). In conclusion, development of the interval endurance capacity seems crucial for a talented youth soccer player to be successful.     

Toward an alternative representation for disentangling age-associated differences in general and specific cognitive abilities

Much of cognitive aging research concerns whether age-associated differences in various cognitive performances can be accounted for by general explanatory constructs or whether several specific processes are involved. Structural equation models have been proposed to disentangle general and specific age-associated differences in cognitive performance. This article demonstrates that existing methods that employ stepwise procedures run the risk of biasing results toward general resource accounts. An alternative model representation (i.e., the nested factor model) is proposed that affords simultaneous estimation of general and specific effects and is applied to data from the Berlin Aging Study. Using the nested factor model allowed the authors to detect that specific group factors explained 25% of the age-associated variance in addition to the general factor.     

Expertise in cognitive psychology: testing the hypothesis of long-term working memory in a study of soccer players

This experiment compared several theories of expertise and exceptional performances in cognitive psychology. One current conception assumes that experts in a specific domain have developed a long-term working memory, which accounts for the difference in memory performance between experts and novices. The principal characteristics of this memory are the speed with which processes of storage and retrieval function and the existence of retrieval structures that allow a temporary activation of the knowledge store in long-term memory. Other authors such as Vicente and Wang argue this notion does not account for memory performance that is not intrinsic to the domain of expertise. We attempt to clarify the two viewpoints and to focus on this debate by testing the hypothesis of long-term working memory using soccer as the domain of expertise and by comparing the cognitive performance of participants who have different expertise (novices, supporters, players, and coaches). 35 male participants were administered a new version of the Reading Span test to assess their long-term working memory according to two conditions. In the first condition (structured condition), the last word of each sentence was related to the soccer domain, and these words were related to each other in such a manner that they represented a part of the game. In the second condition (unstructured condition), the last word of each sentence was related to soccer but these words did not represent part of the game. Analysis showed that the sentence span increased as a function of expertise for the structured condition but not for the unstructured condition. The results were interpreted in the framework of the constraint attunement hypothesis proposed by Vicente in 1992 and the long-term working memory hypothesis proposed by Ericsson and Kintsch in 1995.     

Strength training effects on physical conditioning and instep kick kinematics in young amateur soccer players during preseason

The purpose of this study was to examine effects of lower limb strength training on physical conditioning and kinematic characteristics of instep kicking in 16 young amateur soccer players who participated in initial and final laboratory tests. In addition to their standard preseason soccer program, 8 players comprised the experimental group, who performed an 8-wk. strength-training program. Maximal and relative isometric force of the lower limbs were significantly improved. Moreover, toe and ankle linear velocity during ball contact, ball velocity, as well as ankle, knee and hip angular velocities of the kicking leg were significantly increased. It is concluded that conditioning and kinematic indices of the kicking performance could be improved after strength training of the lower limbs.     

Effect of intermittent exercise on multiple-choice reaction times of soccer players

The influence of intermittent exercise on a choice-response time task was investigated. Two groups of 8 male soccer players (M age = 20.9, SD = 2.0) participated. They spent 4.4 (SD = 1.3) weekly hours on soccer training and had been playing soccer for 13 (SD = 3.3) years. Multiple-choice reaction speed and response accuracy were measured four times. Between measurements, one group performed 8-min. blocks of intermittent exercise on a bicycle ergometer and one group rested. Analysis showed that reaction speed and response accuracy were not significantly different between the two groups. Furthermore, there were significant faster reaction times and a larger number of correct reactions through Block 2 in both the exercise and control group (p < .05), probably a result of learning processes and familiarization with the task procedures. Further research towards the specific influence of mode of exercise, intensity, work-rest ratio and duration of intermittent exercise, and the sensitivity of reaction time tasks will be necessary to clarify the relationship between intermittent exercise and cognitive performance.     

Personality profiles of young chess players

Although the game of chess has often featured in psychological research, we know very little about people who play chess, especially about children who take up chess as a hobby. This study presents the personality profiles as measured with the Big Five model (BFQ-C; Barbaranelli, Caprara, Rabasca, & Pastorelli, 2003) of 219 young children who play chess and 50 of their peers who do not. Children who score higher on Intellect/openness and Energy/extraversion are more likely to play chess while children who score higher on Agreeableness are less likely to be attracted to chess. Boys with higher scores on Agreeableness are less likely to take up chess than boys with lower scores. Considering that girls score higher on Agreeableness, this factor may provide one of the possible reasons why more boys are interested in chess. Although none of the Big Five factors were associated with self-reported skill level, a sub-sample of 25 elite players had significantly higher scores on Intellect/openness than their weaker chess playing peers.     

Effects of limited peripheral vision on shuttle sprint performance of soccer players

This study examined the effect of limited peripheral vision on the shuttle sprint performance of soccer players. Participants were 14 male soccer players of a student soccer club (M age = 22.1 yr., SD = 1.3 yr.). They performed a repeated shuttle sprint with full and limited peripheral vision. Mean total sprint time and mean turning time increased significantly with limited peripheral vision. It is concluded that only turning during shuttle sprint performance decreases when sprinting with a restricted peripheral field of view, indicating the use of peripheral vision for the control of directional changes while sprinting.     

The developmental change of young pupils’ metacognitive ability in mathematics in relation to their cognitive abilities

Metacognition is a multidimensional construct with two main dimensions: knowledge about cognition and regulation of cognition. The present study aimed to model the development of young pupils’ metacognitive abilities in mathematics in relation to processing efficiency, working memory and mathematical performance. We developed instruments measuring pupils’ metacognitive ability, mathematical ability, working memory capacity, and processing efficiency, and administered them to 126 pupils (8–11 years old) three times, with breaks of 3–4 months between them. Dynamic modeling indicated that growth in each of the abilities is affected by the state of the others, especially the state of processing efficiency. Growth modeling was used to specify the nature of change in the main aspects of mind and the possible interrelations in the patterns of change in these aspects. The initial mathematical self-image was found to depend on the corresponding processing efficiency and its advancement to rely on the development of mathematical performance and the previous working memory ability.     

Effects of a cognitive specific imagery intervention on the soccer skill performance of young athletes: Age group comparisons

Objectives

The primary purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of a cognitive specific (CS) imagery intervention on the soccer skill performance of young athletes aged 7-14 years and determine if performance varied with age.

Design

Participants were 143 soccer athletes belonging to 16 different teams. Teams were randomly assigned to either a cognitive specific (CS) or motivational general-arousal imagery intervention.

Methods

Athletes were administered the SIQ-C and tested on the soccer skill to determine baseline performance. Following their imagery intervention, athletes were tested on the same soccer skill, and completed the SIQ-C a second time.

Results

The results indicated that only the younger athletes (7-10 years) receiving CS imagery performed faster following their intervention. Moreover, only the 7-8 year old athletes in the CS imagery condition significantly increased their use of CS imagery over time.

Conclusions

These findings suggest that young athletes who use CS imagery will benefit from a CS imagery intervention, thus implying that mental skills training should begin at a young age if athletes are to maximize the benefits of such training.     

Interaction of cognitive and sensorimotor maps of visual space

Studies of saccadic suppression and induced motion have suggested separate representations of visual space for perception and visually guided behavior. Because these methods required stimulus motion, subjects might have confounded motion and position. We separated cognitive and sensorimotor maps without motion of target, background, or eye, with an “induced Roelofs effect”: a target inside an off-center frame appears biased opposite the direction of the frame. A frame displayed to the left of a subject’s center line, for example, will make a target inside the frame appear farther to the right than its actual position. The effect always influences perception, but in half of our subjects it did not influence pointing. Cognitive and sensorimotor maps interacted when the motor response was delayed; all subjects now showed a Roelofs effect for pointing, suggesting that the motor system was being fed from the biased cognitive map. A second experiment showed similar results when subjects made an open-ended cognitive response instead of a five-alternative forced choice. Experiment 3 showed that the results were not due to shifts in subjects’ perception of the felt straight-ahead position. In Experiment 4, subjects pointed to the target and judged its location on the same trial. Both measures showed a Roelofs effect, indicating that each trial was treated as a single event and that the cognitive representation was accessed to localize this event in both response modes.