@article{ref1,
title="Mental fatigue impairs physical activity, technical and decision-making performance during small-sided games",
journal="PLoS one",
year="2020",
author="Trecroci, Athos and Boccolini, Gabriele and Duca, Marco and Formenti, Damiano and Alberti, Giampietro",
volume="15",
number="9",
pages="e0238461-e0238461",
abstract="The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of mental fatigue on physical activity, technical and decision-making performance during small-sided games. Nine sub-elite soccer players were enrolled in the study. The players performed two small-sided games on two occasions within a crossover experimental design. Before each game, they underwent a mental fatiguing task (Stroop task) and a control task (documentary watching) in a randomized, counterbalanced order. Players' physical activity, technical, and decision-making performance were obtained during small-sided games by GPS and video scouting. <br><br>RESULTS showed that distance in acceleration covered per min, negative passes, passing accuracy, and shot accuracy were likely impaired than control task after a mental fatiguing protocol. Decision-making performance of negative passes, passes accuracy, and dribbling accuracy resulted also likely decreased compared with control task. These findings demonstrated that mental fatigue impacted on technical, GPS-derived, and soccer-specific decision-making performance during SSG. In conclusion, avoiding cognitively demanding tasks before playing soccer-specific activities may be advisable to preserve players' physical activity, technical, and decision-making skills.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1932-6203",
doi="10.1371/journal.pone.0238461",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0238461"
}