Executive Functioning in Highly Talented Soccer Players

Verburgh, Lot; Scherder, Erik; Van Lange, Paul A. M.; Oosterlaan, Jaap · 2014 · OpenAlex-citations

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0091254

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Summary

This study investigates the role of executive functions in identifying talent among youth soccer players, addressing the challenge of distinguishing highly talented athletes from amateurs at a young age. While previous research focused on physiological and technical characteristics, this paper examines higher-order cognitive functions—specifically motor inhibition, attention, and visuospatial working memory—as potential markers for success in team sports requiring rapid adaptation. The researchers hypothesized that highly talented players would outperform amateurs across these cognitive domains. The study compared 84 highly talented male youth soccer players (mean age 11.9) from a professional club’s youth academy with 42 age-matched amateur players from regional clubs. Participants performed three standardized tasks: the Stop Signal Task to measure motor inhibition, the Attention Network Test to assess alerting, orienting, and executive attention, and a visuospatial working memory task. Statistical analyses included ANOVAs to test for group differences and logistic regression to determine the predictive accuracy of executive function measures in distinguishing between the two groups. Results indicated that highly talented players demonstrated superior motor inhibition, evidenced by significantly shorter stop signal reaction times and fewer errors compared to amateurs. They also showed a larger alerting effect, indicating an enhanced ability to attain and maintain an alert state. However, no significant differences were found between the groups in orienting attention, executive attention, or visuospatial working memory. A logistic regression model using motor inhibition and alerting attention measures correctly classified 89% of the highly talented players and 55% of the amateurs, explaining 37% of the variance. The talented players exhibited a more conservative response strategy, prioritizing accuracy over speed in the Stop Signal Task. The findings suggest that motor inhibition and alerting attention are critical cognitive components for success in soccer, potentially facilitating agility and rapid response to changing field situations. The study highlights that these specific executive functions can effectively differentiate highly talented youth players from amateurs. These results imply that cognitive profiling could aid in talent identification and inform individualized training programs. However, the authors note limitations, including the inability to confirm the predictive value of these functions for future professional success and the need for further research into social and other cognitive factors.

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• cognitive capacity variation