Specific interventions for optimizing reaction speed in fencing in 10-12 year old children

In the context of fencing, reaction speed refers to the athlete's ability to respond promptly and effectively to external stimuli, such as the opponent's movements. This involves not only physical speed, but also the ability to make quick and correct decisions in stressful and competitive situations. The purpose of this study is: a) to develop reaction speed and execution accuracy; b) to determine whether there are differences in the results obtained by 10- 12-year-old girls and boys practicing fencing. The sample studied was composed of 14 athletes, 7 girls and 7 boys, aged between 10 and 12 years old, and was carried out over a period of 11 weeks, with a frequency of 3 times a week and 3 tests: initial, intermediate, and final. The reaction speed was assessed using the EFT-1 platform. Each athlete performed 10 blows with the sword, from a distance of 1 m from the apparatus, from the guard position, and the results were calculated by the testing apparatus, which averaged the 10 blows to obtain a score for each participant. The results obtained by girls compared to those obtained by boys do not present a statistically significant difference, although the effect size highlighted small values of 0.17 in the girls' group and 0.46 in the boys' group. But we obtained progressive differences between the 3 tests, which shows us that the program implemented by us was well structured, applied, and designed in accordance with the requirements of the group. Regarding the correlations between reaction speed and age and gender of the subjects, the statistical results show that there is no statistically significant difference. We believe that these results may be influenced by the small number of girls and boys in the applied study.