Short-Duration, High-Intensity Exercise and Performance of a Sports-Specific Skill: A Preliminary Study

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of one bout and three intermittent bouts of short-duration, high-intensity running on the performance of a sports-specific psychomotor skill. Participants ( N = 13) were male soccer players ( M age 20.5 yr., SD = 2.0) who had been playing semi-professionally for M = 2.1 years, SD = 1.11 and trained twice a week. They undertook a soccer-passing test in three conditions: following rest, following a 100-m sprint and following 3 × 100-m sprints, with 30-sec. rest intervals between sprints. Passing accuracy showed a significant linear deterioration, while number of passes showed a significant quadratic effect. Low to moderate linear regression correlations were found between posttest heart rate and absolute and variable errors on the test. It was concluded that short-duration, high-intensity exercise has a negative effect on accuracy in a sports-specific task that requires both perceptual judgment and motor control.