Skillful and strategic navigation in soccer – a motor-cognitive dual-task approach for the evaluation of a dribbling task under different cognitive load conditions

Soccer is a competitive sport that relies on distinct motor skills and cognitive processes. However, cognitive aspects are often overlooked, with a focus mainly on motor skills. Limited research has explored screening tests within motor-cognitive navigation dual-task (DT) paradigms. This study aims to validate a sensitive approach for assessing soccer-specific dribbling by evaluating the Trail-Dribbling Test (TDT) as a method to differentiate high-performance (HP) from low-performance (LP) players. Two hundred and seventy-five participants (41 females) aged between 12 and 34 completed the Trail-Making Test (TMT), the Trail-Walking Test (TWT), and the soccer-specific TDT under three levels of cognitive load. Results indicated shorter TDT durations for HP compared to LP players, with increased cognitive load accentuating differences (TDT-M: