This week’s episode reviews a 2026 paper published in Sports Medicine – Open titled:
Predictors of Latent Reaction Speed in Athletes: The Role of Performance Level and Stress Tolerance at Different Competitive Levels by Katrina Volgemute and colleagues.

The study examines how reaction performance—modeled as a combination of stimulus recognition, decision-making, and movement execution—is related to two factors:

• Performance efficiency

• Stress tolerance (ability to maintain performance under cognitive load)

Across 300+ athletes (amateur, pre-elite, elite), the authors found small but statistically significant relationships between these factors and reaction performance—but only within the pre-elite group.

No significant relationships were observed in amateur or elite athletes.

The findings suggest that the relationship between psychological factors and reaction performance may be stage-specific, rather than consistent across development.

Key ideas:

• Reaction performance is not a single metric—it reflects multiple processes working together

• Stress tolerance and task efficiency showed small associations with reaction performance

• These relationships were only detected in pre-elite athletes

• Development stage may influence which factors are most closely tied to performance

As always, the goal is to stay true to the research while exploring how these ideas might fit within athlete development.

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