Evaluation of reaction time during the one-leg balance activity in young soccer players

• Autor(a) principal: Flôres, Fábio Saraiva
• Data de Publicação: 2023
• Outros Autores: Lourenço, Joana, Phan, Lucy, Jacobs, Simon, Willig, Renata Matheus, Marconcin, Priscila Ellen Pinto, Casanova, Nuno, Soares, Denise, Clemente, Filipe Manuel, Silva, Ana Filipa
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11960/3553
• topic: Soccer; Motor behavior; Motor development; Performance; Training; Sports; Simple reaction time; Decision-making

This study’s aim was two-fold: (i) to test the intra-session reliability of the one-leg balance activity test; and (ii) to assess the influence of age on reaction time (RT) and the differences between dominant and non-dominant feet. Fifty young soccer players with an average age of 12.4 1.8 years were divided into two groups: younger soccer players (n = 26; 11.6 0.9 years) and older soccer players (n = 24; 14.2 0.8 years). Each group then completed four trials (two with each leg) of the one-leg balance activity (OLBA) to evaluate RT under a single-leg stance. Mean RT and the number of hits were calculated, and the best trial was also selected. T-tests and Pearson correlations were performed for statistical analysis. Values for RT were lower, and the number of hits was higher while standing on the non-dominant foot (p = 0.01). MANOVA revealed that the “Dominant Leg” factor did not affect the multivariate composite (Pillai Trace = 0.05; F(4, 43) = 0.565; p = 0.689; Partial ETASquared = 0.050; Observed Power = 0.174). The “Age” factor did not present an effect on the multivariate composite (Pillai Trace = 0.104; F(4, 43) = 1.243; p = 0.307; Partial ETA Squared = 0.104; Observed Power = 0.355). The results of the present investigation demonstrate that RT may be lower while standing on the non-dominant foot.