Possible requirement of executive functions for high performance in soccer

Abstract

In open-skill sports such as soccer, the environment surrounding players is rapidly changing. Therefore, players are required to process a large amount of external information and take appropriate actions in a very short period. Executive functions (EFs)—the cognitive control processes that regulate thoughts and action—are needed for high performance in soccer. In this study, we measured the EFs of young soccer players aged 8–11 years, who were applying for admission to an elite youth program of a Japanese Football League club. We found that even though admission was determined by the soccer performance of the players, significant differences were observed between players who were approved and those who were not approved into the program. Soccer players who had been approved into the program got higher scores in general EFs tests than those who had been rejected. Our results proposed that measuring EFs provides coaches with another objective way to assess the performance levels of soccer players.

Australasian Skill Acquisition Network Annual Conference

“…Despite previous research showing a positive relationship between EF and sporting expertise (i.e., the higher the EF the more expert the performer, Sakamoto et al, 2018), this study showed that in elite populations, just like in a general population, improved EF are likely a result of the maturation of the central nervous system (Zelazo et al, 2004), rather than a result of increased exposure to high level sport. Additionally, EF likely adhere to the 'threshold hypothesis', where increases in EF are only related to performance below a certain EF threshold.…”

Taking the First Steps Toward Integrating Testing and Training Cognitive Abilities Within High-Performance Athletes; Insights From a Professional German Football Club

“…We evaluate our players' EF performance relative to their age group norms. However, there is a high variation between players on EFs across each age group, and this has similarly been reported in another study (Sakamoto et al, 2018). Our practitioners report that players who are the true elite academy players that yield the potential to make it to the adult professional level are also the players who are outperforming their age-group in the EF assessments, and the variation is caused by the many athletes that do not yet hold this "elite" status amongst coaches.…”

“…Some strategies have been recommended in the literature. For example, Sakamoto et al (2018) created a composite score by changing the results of each individual test into a z-score and then adding the z-scores together. In a practical sense, the idea of creating a single number that encompasses different scales for each variable can make the results easier to interpret and can be relatively easy to implement.…”

“…Despite these obstacles, a recent meta-analysis reported that a positive finding exists regarding the importance of EFs in football (Scharfen and Memmert, 2019). Higher-level athletes demonstrated better EFs than lower level athletes, and it has therefore been advocated that EF testing could play a role within the talent identification process (Huijgen et al, 2015;Sakamoto et al, 2018;Montuori et al, 2019). Yet additional research outside of football did not confirm the generalization of better EFs linked with expertise, where no differences between different levels of expertise in tennis (Kida et al, 2005), ice hockey (Lundgren et al, 2016), or basketball (Nakamoto and Mori, 2008) were reported.…”

“…Albeit, previous research has attempted to understand if EFs could help identify talent. For example, Sakamoto et al (2018) reported that players who were accepted into an academy exhibited better EFs than players who were rejected. Yet we need to assess whether these statistically significant differences are also practically relevant.…”