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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychol.

Sec. Sport Psychology

Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1512326

This article is part of the Research Topic The Cognitive Era in Sports Performance: Mental Fatigue, Cognitive Training, and Psychological Ergogenic Substances View all 10 articles

Understanding of mental fatigue in elite fencing sports: Perspectives from Chinese national level fencers

Provisionally accepted
  • 1 Vrije University Brussels, Brussels, Belgium
  • 2 Australian Catholic University, Sydney, Australia
  • 3 University Medical Centre Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Introduction. Recent studies have documented the presence, fluctuation, and persistence of mental fatigue (MF) across various elite sports. It appears that openskilled competitive contexts tend to impose greater mental demands, leading to higher levels of MF. Fencing, as an open-skilled combat sport, requires perceptual-cognitive skills and mental resources allocation for an optimal performance. However, it is underrepresented in the MF research domain. Methods. This study employed a crosssectional design using an online survey to capture Tier 3 -5 Chinese fencers' perceptions of MF and their general understanding of the contributors that may induce MF in fencing. Descriptive reports, thematic analysis, comparisons of retrospective MF perceptions (MVAS) and different contributors to MF inducement in training and competition were conducted. Results. The results highlight a contextual difference of MF (training vs. competition), and the contributions of timing-related decisionmaking moments and execution of offensive actions to the MF inducement in fencing. Furthermore, MF was perceived higher in the direct elimination stage competition than in the pool stage (MVAS: 57.6 ± 21.0 vs. 49.2 ± 21.7 AU). Individuals' health conditions and competition-oriented elements were rated as synergistic factors of MF perception, while external commitments were rated lower. Discussion. These findings emphasize the presence of MF in fencers and encourage researchers and practitioners to assess and deliberately manage MF. Future studies should involve longitudinal, multifactor observations on diverse fencers and contexts to validate current findings, with a focus on specific in-match scenarios to enhance the representativeness and inform targeted training and management strategies for MF in fencing.

    Keywords: cognitive fatigue, qualitative study, combat sports, Epee, Foil, SABRE

    Received: 16 Oct 2024; Accepted: 31 Mar 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Bian, Russell, De Pauw, Habay, Bogataj and Roelands. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Bart Roelands, Vrije University Brussels, Brussels, Belgium

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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