Esports on the rise

TUNE UP: COGNITIVE ABILITY IS AT THE FOREFRONT FOR GAMING

Getting adequate sleep can be the difference between success and failure.

Hundreds of millions of players worldwide are engaged in casual and competitive gaming daily. Player earnings from sponsorships are on the rise and the attention that esports has received in recent months has increased.

With the Covid-19 pandemic and decrease in mainstream sports, there has been an increase in the engagement with esports, which allows for socialisation and social distancing.

Esports players may dedicate as much as 14 hours a day to practice and matches.

This has led to the integration of wellness programmes to prolong player performance – and an essential element in this wellness mix is sleep.

Dr Janesh Ganda, a sports doctor, shed some light on the importance of sleep for esports players.

Sleep frequently does not get sufficient attention. Some consider the three pillars of health to be diet, exercise, training and sleep.

Traditional sports involve a combination of physical and cognitive abilities. Esports relies more on cognitive abilities.

Goliath Gaming, home to some of SA’s top esports players, places great importance on the physical and mental well-being of their players.

The team has a mental coach and a yoga instructor and it has been noted that when players take good care of their physical and mental well-being, there is a direct impact on their cognitive abilities.

Esports players require quick motor movements to respond to rapidly changing information from multiple human players and the environment. They need to process visual information and respond with fine motor movements.

Restriction of sleep decreases reaction times, processing speeds and slows processing of visual information.

Two additional key cognitive processes are attention and working memory. Attention is required for sustained periods, as competitive games could go for over 40 minutes. Selective attention is required to remain focused on the in-game elements. Working memory is required to manage goals, such as sticking to a predefined battle plan.

Sleep restriction has been shown to reduce performance in selective and sustained information, as well as for working memory.

Sleep extension can be achieved by napping or prolonging the night’s sleep.

Studies on athletes found that sleep extension improves sprint time, tennis serve and basketball shooting accuracy.

Cognitive performance also improved, ranging from reaction times, psychomotor vigilance tasks to alertness and vigour.

Stick to a regular bedtime routine to relax and prepare your body for rest.

Ensure your bedroom is quiet, dark and on the cooler side. Avoid alcohol and high intensity exercise right before bed as these impair sleep. – Citizen reporter