Combining perceptual-cognitive skills training with physiological stress combats the detrimental effects on the efficiency and effectiveness of anticipatory judgements in badminton

We examined the effects of combining perceptual-cognitive training with physiological stress on anticipatory judgements in elite badminton players. Players were assigned to either a Combined Training group (CT), where the simulation training and the physiological stress intervention occurred simultaneously, or an Independent Training group (IT), whereby simulation training and a physiological stress intervention were completed independently. Participants completed a pre- and post-test in which they responded to occluded video clips of badminton shots. In between each trial, a badminton-specific exercise protocol was completed. Pre-test data showed that under very high physiological stress response accuracy reduced, participants had less efficient visual search behaviour, and mental effort increased. In the post-test, the CT group improved performance in the final block under high physiological stress, compared to the pre-test, while the IT group showed the same drop in performance as in the pre-test. Analysis of visual search showed that the CT group maintained a similar behaviour across post-test blocks, while the IT group showed a reduction in visual search efficiency in the post-test final block. Findings demonstrate physiological stress negatively affects perceptual-cognitive skill. However, combining perceptual-cognitive training with high physiological stress can negate the debilitating effects of physiological stress on anticipatory performance