Effects of physical and mental fatigue on competitive fencing performance: a systematic review

  • Ade Zalindro
    Universitas Negeri Padang
    Indonesia
  • Ifdil Ifdil
    Center for Educational Neuroscience, Trauma, and Human Behavior, Universitas Negeri Padang.
    Indonesia
  • Rudyanto Rudyanto 
    Universitas Negeri Padang
    Indonesia
    https://orcid.org/0009-0000-4720-1289

Abstract

Fencing is an open-skill combat sport in which rapid perception, decision-making, and precise motor execution are performed under intermittent high-intensity demands. Fatigue may therefore affect performance through both neuromuscular and cognitive pathways. This systematic review examined how physical and mental fatigue manifest in competitive fencing, how fatigue influences performance, and which countermeasures have been investigated. Following PRISMA 2020, Scopus, PubMed, and ScienceDirect were searched, yielding 295 records. After removal of 15 duplicates and screening, 44 reports were assessed for eligibility and 14 primary empirical studies were included. The included evidence comprised four randomized studies, six non-randomized quantitative studies, three quantitative descriptive studies, and one qualitative study. MMAT quality scores ranged from 3.5 to 5.0/5.0; 11 studies were rated high and three medium. Because of substantial heterogeneity in study design, fatigue-induction protocols, and outcome measures, findings were synthesized narratively using thematic synthesis rather than meta-analysis. Across the included evidence, simulated or competitive fencing was associated with increasing perceived and/or mental fatigue and with modest neuromuscular fatigability, while reaction time showed the most consistent performance decrement. Higher expertise appeared to buffer movement-precision loss. Nutritional, thermal, and cognitive countermeasures showed preliminary benefits, but objective fencing-performance effects remain uncertain. The evidence supports integrated monitoring of physical and mental fatigue and larger, adequately powered, ecologically valid trials.

Keywords
  • Competitive fencing, Physical fatigue, Mental fatigue, Reaction time, Fencing performance
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