Investigation of Physical and Cognitive Performance of Athletes

This study aims to examine the relationship between physical performance levels and cognitive functions of male athletes aged 18-25 years competing in the Turkish Hockey Indoor 1st League. 45 athletes participated in the study, balance, flexibility and vertical jump tests and D2 Attention Test were applied. In addition to descriptive statistics, independent samples t-test, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Pearson correlation analysis were used to analyze the data. The results revealed that attention levels did not differ significantly according to age, education, sport experience and position (p>0.05). While there was no significant relationship between physical performance variables and attention, only vertical jump values showed a significant difference between the positions (p<0.05). In addition, positive and significant correlations were observed between the sub-dimensions of the attention test. In this context, it was concluded that not only physical criteria but also cognitive skills should be systematically included in the performance evaluations of hockey athletes.