The effects of acute caffeine ingestion on decision-making and pass accuracy in young soccer players: A preliminary randomized controlled trial

Jafari, Negar, Salesi, Mohsen, SOLTANI, Pooya and Fazeli, Davoud (2024) The effects of acute caffeine ingestion on decision-making and pass accuracy in young soccer players: A preliminary randomized controlled trial. Behavioural Brain Research, 457. p. 114732. ISSN 0166-4328

Preview

Text 1-s2.0-S0166432823004503-main.pdf - Publisher's typeset copy Available under License Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). Download (907kB) | Preview

Abstract or description

Caffeine has been shown to benefit physical aspects of different sports. In this paper, we aimed to understand the effects of caffeine on decision-making and the accuracy of soccer passes. Twelve young soccer players (16–17 years old and 20.8 ± 2.7 kg/m2 BMI) completed the tasks once after taking 3 mg/kg body mass of caffeine (CAF) and once after consuming similar amounts of placebo (PLA). For the decision-making task, participants were asked to determine the best outcome of ten simulated pre-recorded soccer events. For the soccer pass accuracy, participants performed five short- (10 m) and five long passes (30 m), as well as the Loughborough Soccer Passing Test. Although not statistically significant, participants were 1.67 % more accurate in short- and 13.48 % more accurate in long passes when they consumed caffeine compared to the placebo (14.67 ± 2.74 vs. 14.50 ± 2.97, p = 0.34, g = 0.27 and 7.50 ± 2.84 vs. 6.83 ± 3.13, p = 0.60, g = 0.14, respectively). However, participants' decision-making was 7.14 % and LSPT scores were 3.49 % lower when they consumed caffeine compared to the placebo (29.50 ± 3.09 vs. 30.67 ± 2.93, p = 0.28, g = −0.30 and 55.38 ± 11.91 vs. 57.48 ± 12.13, p = 0.08, g = −0.51 respectively). In conclusion, while the short pass accuracy remained consistent among almost all participants before and after caffeine consumption, the performance varied in the case of long passes. Moreover, most of the participants scored lower on decision-making and LSPT after consuming caffeine. This may suggest that more complex tasks with a higher number of passes might negatively be affected by low doses of caffeine ingested one hour before playing soccer. Future studies are required to elucidate the effects of caffeine consumption on distinct cognitive and passing tasks.

Item Type:	Article
Faculty:	School of Digital, Technologies and Arts > Games Design, Production and Programming
Depositing User:	Pooya SOLTANI
Date Deposited:	03 Nov 2023 15:43
Last Modified:	03 Nov 2023 15:43
URI:	https://eprints.staffs.ac.uk/id/eprint/7962

Actions (login required)

View Item