AUTHOR=Sun He , Soh Kim Geok , Mohammadi Alireza , Wang Xuanji , Bin Zuchang , Zhao Zijian 

TITLE=Effects of mental fatigue on technical performance in soccer players: A systematic review with a meta-analysis

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Public Health

VOLUME=Volume 10 - 2022

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/public-health/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2022.922630

DOI=10.3389/fpubh.2022.922630

ISSN=2296-2565

ABSTRACT=Background: Mental fatigue largely influences technical performance in soccer, including offensive and defensive skills. However, these effects on technical performance among soccer players have not yet been aggregated to be assessed systematically.
Objective: The purpose of the review is to evaluate the impact of mental fatigue on soccer players’ overall technical skills.
Methods: Drawing on Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, and EBSCOhost (CENTRAL, SPORTDicus), an exhaustive search was conducted. PICOS established the eligibility criteria to select the studies: (i) population —healthy soccer players; (ii) intervention— involving any mental-fatigue-prompted protocol; (iii) comparison—control conditions (active or passive without inducing mental fatigue); (iv) outcomes —technical performance (offensive and defensive skill); and (v) study design—randomized controlled trials.
Results: A total of eight studies qualified for inclusion in the systematic literature review. Overall, the results indicate that mental fatigue had significant effects on technical skills, including offensive and defensive skills. Specifically, there were significant effects on errors (ES = 0.977; p < 0.001), number of tackles (ES = -0.739; p = 0.005) and the percentage of successful tackles (ES = -0.628; p = 0.022), while there were no significant effects on the number of passes (ES = 0.240; p = 0.328), the percentage of accurate passing (ES = -0.008; p = 0.985), and the number of successful passes (ES = -0.322; p = 0.217).
Conclusion: Overall, a significant effect of mental fatigue on the technical performance (e.g., tackles and errors) of soccer players was detected, while no significant effects on passing skills were detected. Future studies may consider investigating technical performance together with other important results (e.g., decision-making skills or internal load).