Various studies suggest the importance of sport-specific cognitive and perceptual abilities in soccer. However, the role of general perceptual-cognitive abilities and the relation of age respective to position have not been clarified for soccer in detail. Therefore, it was the objective of the present study to determine the relation of age and position to general perceptual-cognitive abilities. 178 highly talented male soccer players (mean age 16.2, age range 10 to 33 years) were involved. The participants performed computer-based sustained attention and anticipation (using Vienna Test System) tests. 139 subjects (mean age 16.6) took part in visual and acoustic reaction tests (using Talent Diagnostic System). The soccer players, subdivided into age and position groups, were recruited from a youth academy of a professional soccer club and played at the highest and 2nd highest national soccer competition for their age. Group differences were tested using analysis of variance. Correlations were analyzed for age and abilities.Significant correlations and group differences were found for age and sustained attention tasks. Significant differences for position groups were observed with regard to acoustic reaction time (ART). Further, we found statistical tendencies for group differences regarding the visual reaction time (VRT), indicating that midfielders outperform defenders and strikers in simple reaction tasks. Improved skills in sustained attention tasks resulted for defenders, who worked faster and more precisely in figural tasks. Regarding general anticipation tasks differences were not found. No group differences were found in basic anticipation tasks. Our study indicates that additional research is needed to further clarify the development of general perceptual-cognitive abilities and position-specific differences in the above abilities of highly talented soccer players.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this cross-sectional study was to investigate the level of mental and physical workloads in professional dance teachers depending on the trained students’ age, technique level, or dance style. METHODS: A total number of 133 professional dance pedagogues responded to an online cross-sectional questionnaire survey on self-assessment of physical and mental workloads occurring during dance units. RESULTS: The majority of dance teachers estimated their level of physical and mental workload to be almost as high as that of their students, with differences in physical and mental workloads observed depending on dance style, age of students, and technical level. More than 60% of the teachers were convinced that their occupation implies positive effects on their own health in terms of self-realization (78.2%), musculoskeletal system (66.9%), and social relationships (61.7%). Of all respondents, 58.6% stated that their musculoskeletal system was jeopardized by the physically demanding activity. This is followed by the fear of financial insecurity (50.4%). The majority of all dance teachers (males 65.4%, females 63.9%) would like to obtain further education on prevention against or dealing with physical workload. CONCLUSION: Physical and mental workloads play an important role in dance teaching. Coping with or preventing these loads could be keys to a lifelong, healthy career as a professional dance teacher. Future trials should look at clinical parameters of physical and mental load.

Various studies suggest the importance of peripheral vision (PV) in sports. Computer-based test systems provide objective methods to measure PV. Nevertheless, the reliability and training effects are not clarified in detail. The purpose of this investigation was to present a short narrative non-systematic review on computer-based PV tests and to determine the reliability and the training effects of peripheral perception sub-test (PP) of the Vienna test system (VTS) in a test–retest design. N = 21 male athletes aged between 20 and 30 years (M = 26.15; SD = 3.1) were included. The main outcome parameters were peripheral reaction (PR), PR left (PRL), PR right (PRR), field of vision (FOV), visual angle left (VAL), and visual angle right (VAR). Reliability was assessed using intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and Bland–Altman plots. Training effects were determined by students t-test. Good reliability was observed in PR, PRL, and PRR. Moderate reliability was found in FOV, VAL, and VAR. Significant improvements between T0 and T1 were found in PRL with a mean difference of 0.04 s (95% CI [0.00–0.07]) and in PR with a mean difference of 0.02 s (95% CI [0.00–0.05]). For PRR, FOV, VAL, VAR, no significant differences were detected. These results indicate that PP can be applied to asses PV abilities in sports. Future research is needed to clarify the influence of test repetitions on visuomotor learning in PP. Moreover, PV tests should be cross-validated with sport-specific measurements (e.g., on-field and/or ‘virtual reality’ approaches).

Objective: There have been only a limited number of studies available on the physical requirements in dance teachers (DT), who are responsible for the training of recreational and/or professional dancers and/or dance students. First results provide indications that a consideration of physical work load (teaching load) of this occupational group is necessary. Methods: HR measurements were done on a total of 21 DT (f: n = 18, m: n = 3) aged 48.2 ± 9.3 years during their lessons in three dance styles: ballet (B), jazz/modern dance (J/MD) and preschool dance (CD). The HR data were objectified using the spiroergometrically measured maximum HR (HRmax). In addition, the rating of perceived exertion (RPE) was asked directly after the lesson using the Borg scale together with an additional questionnaire. Results: Depending on the dance style, the average HR load during the lessons ranged between 56.7% ± 7.4%) (B) and 63.6% ± 9.8% (CD) of the individual HRmax. No significant differences could be found between the dance styles for the minimum, medium and maximum teaching loads. The DTs rated the average RPE of the teaching units according to BORG (11.4 ± 2.1). Correlations between the RPE and the mean and maximum cardiovascular loads (r = 0.376, p = 0.037 and r = 0.441, p = 0.013) could be shown for all dance units and for the mean loads in J/MD (r = 0.558, p = 0.044). Conclusion: Most dance units do not represent a load in the sense of a endurance training unit. An increase in aerobic fitness and possible positive effects in the context of injury prevention is not to be expected. In J/MD, the use of RPEs for the rough estimation of cardiovascular stress is conceivable. The assessment of cardiovascular load in dance lessons requires further investigations for more precise assessments.

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