Daytime Napping Benefits Passing Performance and Scanning Activity in Elite Soccer Players

The present study explored the effect of a daytime napping opportunity on scanning activity, which is an essential component of successful soccer performance. Fourteen male elite collegiate soccer players performed the Trail Making Test (TMT), which was used to assess complex visual attention. In ad...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of sports science & medicine 2023-03, Vol.22 (1), p.75-83
Main Authors: Nishida, Masaki, Okano, Shuta, Ichinose, Atsushi, Suyama, Shutaro, Youn, Sumi
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Athletic ability
Cognition
Decision making
Experiments
Fatigue
Humans
Japan
Male
Mental Fatigue
Naps (Sleep)
Pain Measurement
Physiological aspects
Physiology
Psychological aspects
Sleep
Sleepiness
Soccer
Soccer players
Visual perception
Young Adult
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Summary:The present study explored the effect of a daytime napping opportunity on scanning activity, which is an essential component of successful soccer performance. Fourteen male elite collegiate soccer players performed the Trail Making Test (TMT), which was used to assess complex visual attention. In addition, a soccer passing test, modified with reference to the Loughborough Soccer Passing Test, was used to evaluate passing performance as well as scanning activity. A cross-over design was applied to examine nap and no-nap interventions. Participants (N = 14, mean age: 21.6 SD = 0.5 years, height: 1.73 ± 0.06 m, body mass: 67.1 ± 4.5 kg) were randomly allocated to a midday nap (40 minutes) or no-nap group. Subjective sleepiness was measured using the Karolinska Sleepiness Scale, and perceptive fatigue was evaluated by the visual analog scale. There were no significant differences in subjective measurements or TMT between the nap and no-nap groups. However, the performance time for the passing test and scanning activity was significantly shorter (p < 0.001) and scanning activity was significantly more frequent in the nap condition than in the no-nap condition (p < 0.00005). These results suggest that daytime napping is beneficial for soccer-related cognitive function, represented by visuospatial processing and decision-making, and particularly as a potential countermeasure to mental fatigue. Considering that inadequate sleep and residual fatigue are commonly observed in elite soccer, this finding may have practical implications for the preparation of players.
ISSN:1303-2968
1303-2968
DOI:10.52082/jssm.2023.75