Author(s): WANG, T., HE, Y., ZHANG, L., Institution: BEIJING SPORT UNIVERSITY, Country: CHINA, Abstract-ID: 2113

INTRODUCTION:
Change-of-direction (CoD) performance is influenced not only by physical capacity but also by the ability to process information under time pressure. Cognitive-load drills may enhance decision-making demands during movement; however, evidence on whether such training improves subsequent CoD performance in youth is limited. This study examined changes in CoD performance following a SPEED COURT-based cognitive-load training programme.
METHODS:
Ten athletes(5 male, 5 female; mean age 13.5 years; age range 9–16 years) completed a cognitive-load training intervention on the SPEED COURT training platform and performed a change-of-direction (CoD) test before and after the intervention. Training was conducted 60 min per session, 3 sessions per week; the intervention duration was 16 weeks. Cognitive-load training was implemented via screen-based stimuli integrated with SPEED COURT target blocks and consisted primarily of two task elements: Maths and Ball Memory. In the Maths task, an arithmetic problem was displayed on the front screen; answer options corresponded to specific SPEED COURT blocks, and athletes had to compute the solution quickly, decide on the correct option, and sprint/change direction to touch the corresponding block. This sequence repeated continuously (compute–decide–move–touch). In the Ball Memory task, several balls were briefly shown on the screen and mapped to specific SPEED COURT blocks; after a short encoding phase the visual cue disappeared, and athletes had to rely on working memory to rapidly move, change direction, and touch the correct blocks without on-screen guidance. Following cognitive-load training, CoD performance was assessed using CoD Distance and CoD Action time, and CoD speed was calculated as Distance/Action time. A linear mixed-effects model (random intercept for athlete) assessed the effect of timepoint on CoD outcomes while accounting for CoD distance.
RESULTS:
Across 10 athletes, 20 CoD test records were available (pre n=10; post n=10). CoD speed increased from 2.13 m/s at pre to 2.69 m/s at post; after accounting for CoD distance, this corresponded to a 20.4% pre-to-post improvement that approached statistical significance (p = 0.05).
CONCLUSION:
Based on the SPEED COURT training platform analysis, cognitive-load training was associated with a meaningful improvement tendency in CoD performance, although statistical support was borderline in this small sample. These findings support further controlled studies with standardized test distances, more frequent mid-point testing, and larger samples to clarify the effectiveness of cognitive-load interventions on CoD performance.