Sport Mont | 2026
Authors: Kacur P.; Vaskova M.; Elias T.
DOI: 10.26773/smj.260201
Journal: Sport Mont
Year: 2026
Publisher: Montenegrin Sports Academy
Document Type: Article
Open Access: All Open Access; Gold Open Access
Cited by: 0
In team sports such as soccer, players must rapidly and accurately process dynamic visual scenes based on the real-time movements and positioning of teammates and opponents. This study aimed to investigate differences in brain processing speed, cognitive agility, and lower-limb reactive agility among youth soccer players aged 10–17 years, considering both field position and level of playing experience. A total of 142 male players (mean age 13.27±2.35 years) were assessed and categorized according to their training age and field position. Brain processing speed and cognitive agility were measured using the Witty SEM system with the BrainHQ Hawk Eye and BrainHQ Agility tests, while lower-limb reactive agility was evaluated via the Fitro Agility Check. Players with 7–9 years of training experience achieved significantly faster brain speed reaction times (BSRT; p=0.013, ηp²=0.076) and lower complex disjunctive reaction times (CDR; p<0.001, ηp²=0.340) compared with players with 1–3 years of experience. Large training-age effects were also found in all agility directions (ηp²=0.277–0.385). These findings demonstrate that greater sport experience is strongly associated with enhanced perceptual-cognitive and motor-reactive efficiency in youth soccer. © 2026, Montenegrin Sports Academy. All rights reserved.
brain speed quality; cognitive agility; field position; lower-limb reactive agility; soccer; training age