Impact of Fatigue on the Balance and Reaction Time of Amateur Padel Athletes

Abstract

Background: Physical features, such as body balance and reaction time, can significantly influence the overall performance of Padel's professional athletes. Objectives: In this paper, we aimed to compare motor performance abilities before and after exhaustion in amateur padel athletes. Methods: A total of 32 padel amateur athletes participated in our study and performed Y balance test trials and a complex sensometric examination to measure their capabilities before and after exhaustion by the Bruce test. Results: Our results showed a significant change in both balance and reaction time before and after exhaustion (P < 0.05 for both parameters), indicating that fatigue had a negative effect on the motor performance of padel players. Cohen’s d was considered moderate (0.2 < d < 0.5) both for balance (d = 0.44) and reaction time (d = 0.41). Data suggested that amateur padel athletes struggled to maintain or improve their balance quality after long-term physical activity, showing the importance of high-intensity training for adapting the central nervous system. Reaction time is negatively affected by fatigue compared to resting reaction time due to the exhaustion effect of the muscle reception of central nervous system stimuli. Conclusions: Based on our results, focusing on body balance and reaction time training would help reduce the negative impact of fatigue, improve the effectiveness of technical abilities, increase the possibility of scoring during a competitive game, and prevent injuries. Coaches of amateur players should focus on improving the physical abilities of players and give more importance to fitness training in addition to padel training.