Effects Of Warm-up On Fine Motor Skills And Neural Efficiency Among First-person Shooting Esports Players

PURPOSE: Like players in traditional sports, eSports players have fine motor skills as well as neural efficiency needs. The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of warm-up on fine motor skills and neural efficiency of eSports players. METHODS: Thirty-four first-person shooting (FPS) eSports players (age: 22.4 ± 3.8 years, height: 176.89 ± 7.14 cm, body mass: 68.39 ± 13.83 kg, BMI: 21.76 ± 3.79 and average training period: 4.55 ± 1.00 years) were recruited in this study. They used the Aimbooster eSports training software to perform a moving target shooting task under two conditions: warm-up and no-warm-up conditions. The warm-up consisted of a 5-minute run on a treadmill at 65% of maximum heart rate and a set of finger exercises. During the shooting task, an fNIRS(functional near - infrared spectroscopy) device with 22 passages was used to measure the oxyhemoglobin concentration in prefrontal cortex. The order of the two conditions was randomized with an interval of at least one week. The shooting accuracy, reaction time, and shooting score were measured to represent fine motor skills, and oxyhemoglobin concentration was measured to represent the neural efficiency. Paired sample t-tests were used to detect the differences between the two conditions. RESULTS: Under warm-up condition, the eSports players' shooting accuracy (no-warm-up = 52.40 ± 10.36%, warm-up = 66.38 ± 8.75%, p < 0.001), shooting score (no-warm-up = 31 ± 6 points, warm-up = 46 ± 5 points, p < 0.001) were higher, while the reaction time (no-warm-up = 453.34 ± 38.29 ms, warm-up = 424.60 ± 34.15 ms, p = 0.025) was shorter compare to no-warm-up condition. Under warm-up condition, the oxygenated hemoglobin concentration in passages 6 (no-warm-up = 2.31 ± 2.88 mmol×10-7, warm-up = 1.12 ± 2.90 mmol×10-7, p = 0.006), 11 (no-warm-up = -0.59 ± 2.19 mmol×10-7, warm-up = -1.84 ± 2.85 mmol×10-7, p = 0.005), and 12 (no-warm-up = 1.73 ± 1.88 mmol × 10-7, warm-up = 0.20 ± 2.20 mmol × 10-7, p = 0.001) decreased compared to no-warm-up condition. CONCLUSIONS: Warm-up may improve fine-motor skills and enhance neural efficiency among FPS eSports players.