Reinhard Martin L, Mann David L, Höner Oliver
Eberhard Karls University, Institute of Sports Science, Department Sport Psychology and Research Methods, Germany; VfB Stuttgart AG, Germany.
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Department of Human Movement Sciences, Amsterdam Movement Sciences and Institute Brain and Behavior Amsterdam (iBBA), the Netherlands.
J Sci Med Sport. 2025 Jul;28(7):587-593. doi: 10.1016/j.jsams.2025.01.010. Epub 2025 Jan 30.
Tests of cognitive skills are increasingly used to identify talent in sports such as football, but there is so far little evidence to suggest that those tests are associated with sport-specific cognitive skills and performance. The aim of this study was to establish the degree to which tests of generic cognitive skills are associated with football-specific skill in youth football. Specifically, we (i) established the degree to which tests of generic cognitive skills are associated with sport-specific cognitive skills, and (ii) compared the associations between generic and sport-specific cognitive skills and the playing level of youth footballers.
Cross-sectional study.
Youth football players (U11-U15; N = 110) competing at an elite and sub-elite level conducted two diagnostic tests of generic and one of football-specific cognitive skills. Generic tests were (1) the determination test measuring reactive stress tolerance, and (2) NeurOlympics assessing executive functions and anticipation to produce a Football Intelligence score (FI score). The football-specific test was a 360°-video decision-making test. Multiple regression analyses were used to establish the association between the tests, and logistic regression for their association to playing level (elite vs. sub-elite).
The generic Football Intelligence score showed a small but significant association with football-specific decision making when controlling for age (p = 0.006). However, football-specific decision making (Nagelkerke's R = 0.34, p < 0.001) had a higher diagnostic validity when predicting the playing level than did the FI score (Nagelkerke's R = 0.13, p < 0.001).
We found a partial relationship between generic and football-specific cognition and that football-specific decision making better differentiates playing levels than generic cognition. These results contribute to the literature suggesting that sport-specific measures are much better predictors of skill than generic cognitive diagnostics for the purposes of talent identification.
认知技能测试越来越多地被用于识别足球等运动项目中的人才，但目前几乎没有证据表明这些测试与特定运动的认知技能和表现相关。本研究的目的是确定通用认知技能测试与青少年足球中特定于足球的技能之间的关联程度。具体而言，我们（i）确定通用认知技能测试与特定运动认知技能之间的关联程度，以及（ii）比较通用认知技能和特定运动认知技能与青少年足球运动员比赛水平之间的关联。
横断面研究。
参加精英和次精英水平比赛的青少年足球运动员（U11-U15；N = 110）进行了两项通用诊断测试和一项特定于足球的认知技能测试。通用测试包括（1）测量反应性应激耐受性的测定测试，以及（2）评估执行功能和预期以产生足球智力得分（FI得分）的神经奥运会测试。特定于足球的测试是360°视频决策测试。多元回归分析用于确定测试之间的关联，逻辑回归用于确定它们与比赛水平（精英与次精英）之间的关联。
在控制年龄时，通用足球智力得分与特定于足球的决策之间显示出小但显著的关联（p = 0.006）。然而，在预测比赛水平时，特定于足球的决策（Nagelkerke's R = 0.34，p < 0.001）比FI得分（Nagelkerke's R = 0.13，p < 0.001）具有更高的诊断效度。
我们发现通用认知与特定于足球的认知之间存在部分关系，并且特定于足球的决策比通用认知更能区分比赛水平。这些结果为文献提供了参考，表明对于人才识别而言，特定于运动的测量比通用认知诊断更能预测技能。
