Monitoring and Understanding Mental Fatigue and Its Impact in Team Sports
A special issue of Sports (ISSN 2075-4663).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 April 2026 | Viewed by 25
Special Issue Editor
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
It is our pleasure to invite you to contribute to our Special Issue on mental fatigue in team sports.
Mental fatigue (MF) is a naturally occurring phenomenon in sports that can affect athletes both acutely (e.g., during training or matches) and cumulatively (e.g., over days or weeks across the competitive season). Research has shown that MF has a negative influence in several domains of team sport performance, including physical, technical/tactical, and perceptual/cognitive domains. While plenty of evidence has been obtained via laboratory and experimental studies, research conducted on ecological, real-word scenarios is scarce.
In this Special Issue, therefore, studies addressing MF in team sports are welcome, particularly those using both quantitative and qualitative designs. Particular attention will be provided to studies that
- Quantify MF using more than one measure, including physiological (i.e., electroencephalography, heart rate variability), behavioural (i.e., cognitive performance tests—Stroop, Go/No Go), and subjective measures (i.e., visual analogue scales, Likert scales);
- Evaluate MF and its impact on performance during official matches, assessing multiple and novel performance domains, such as the physical domain (i.e., external loads, neuromuscular performance), technical/tactical and perceptual/cognitive domains (i.e., accuracy and errors, decision-making), and physiological responses (i.e., heart rate, respiratory frequency) and emotional aspects (i.e., motivation, frustration);
- Monitor the mental demands of training and competition (i.e., mental load, mental effort);
- Evaluate qualitative aspects and athlete experiences using interviews, surveys, focus groups, etc.
Dr. Pierpaolo Sansone
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- mental fatigue
- mental load
- team sports
- perceptual/cognitive processes
- statistical analysis
- mixed-methods studies
- qualitative analysis
- athlete monitoring
- physical performance
- technical/tactical performance
- sport psychology
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