ArticleFrontiers in psychology2026
Delayed decision, harder landing: how mental fatigue alters reactive step biomechanics and joint loading in table tennis players.
Article in Frontiers in psychology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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Abstract
Objective: Mental fatigue (MF) is known to impair psychobiological performance, yet its cross-dimensional impact on the neuromechanical control of reactive athletic movements remains underexplored. This study investigated the effects of MF on the cognitive-temporal and lower-limb biomechanical characteristics of table tennis athletes executing a reactive chasse-step. Methods: Twenty-four collegiate table tennis athletes (12 males, 12 females) completed a randomized, counterbalanced crossover study. Participants performed a choice-reaction chasse-step forehand topspin task following either a 45-min stroop task (MF condition) or neutral documentary viewing (Control condition). Three-dimensional motion capture and force plates were synchronized to analyze cognitive-motor timing and lower-limb biomechanics across the initial landing, propulsion, and stabilization phases. Results: The Stroop task successfully induced significant subjective mental fatigue ( Conclusion: MF is linked to a cognitive delay and motor compression cascade that alters the temporal structure of reactive footwork. This central resource depletion may lead athletes to adopt a rigid landing strategy, sacrificing shock absorption and propulsive efficiency. Consequently, MF is associated with elevated multi-planar joint impact forces, highlighting it as a potential biomechanical risk factor for lower-limb injuries. Ultimately, athletes' cognitive state should be integrated into routine monitoring to balance performance optimization and injury prevention in high-speed racket sports.
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