There is No Supporting Evidence for a Far Transfer of General Perceptual or Cognitive Training to Sports Performance.

In this opinion piece I reiterate the concepts of near and far transfer as previously described in the psychological literature. I show that despite very limited evidence, many technologies, tools and methods make questionable claims of eliciting far transfer from generic perceptual and/or cognitive training to sports performance. Specifically, this commentary illustrates with studies on stroboscopic vision, neurofeedback training and executive functions that the claims made for the beneficial effects of these training methods are currently unsubstantiated. I conclude that greater scrutiny by researchers is needed in order to assist practitioners to make better-informed decisions about tools, methods and technologies that may aid sports performance.
Competing Interests: Declarations Conflict of Interest The author has no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose. Ethics Approval and Consent to Participate Not applicable. Consent for Publication Not applicable. Availability of Data and Materials Not applicable. Funding Open Access funding enabled and organized by CAUL and its Member Institutions. Author Contributions As a sole author, Job Fransen conceptualised and wrote this commentary.
(© 2024. The Author(s).)