The relationship between multiple object tracking accuracy and match performance of hockey defenders 13-15 years old

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M.M. Tcepelevich1
A.S. Okuneva1
PhD D.N. Savin1
PhD I.V. Golovanova1, 2
1Sirius University, Sirius, Krasnodar Region
2Saint Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg

The objective of the study was to investigate the relationship between multiple object tracking (MOT) accuracy and ice hockey match performance of 13-15-year-old defensemen.
Methods and structure of the study. The experiment was held within the sport program of the Sirius Educational Center. 132 hockey defensemen, participants of the Russian National Hockey Championships U15, underwent the control testing. Athletes completed the on-ice Transition agility test (as a measure of special physical fitness) and multiple object tracking (MOT) task in a virtual reality environment. Videos of the hockey matches were analyzed to identify the competitive performance of individual players (parameter "expected goals for"). The multilevel regression analysis was used to evaluate the contribution of MOT accuracy to the match performance with a team membership as a grouping factor.
Results and conclusions. MOT accuracy had a significant impact on the on-field performance of the hockey defensemen both with and without considering the level of special physical fitness.
The ability to track multiple moving objects during competitive matches does not depend on the special physical qualities of hockey defensemen.
This determines the importance of testing the cognitive functions of athletes along with assessing the level of physical fitness. Further research should be aimed at both expanding the testing battery (to assess executive functions, memory, attention, anticipation, etc.) and determining the physiological parameters that characterize the “biological cost” of performing the tests considered in this paper.

Keywords: cognitive indicators, spatial tracking of moving objects, virtual reality, hockey defenders, competitive efficiency.

Финансирование проекта осуществлялось из средств Университета «Сириус» в рамках научных проектов ISR-RND-2252, COG-RND-2138.

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