Left handers have long held the edge over right handers in one-on-one interactive combat sports. Particularly in fencing, top rankings show a relatively strong overrepresentation of left handers over right handers. Whether this can be attributed to perceptual strategies used by fencers in their bouts remains to be established. This study aims to verify whether right-handed fencers assess their opponents’ behaviour based on different perceptual strategies when fencing a left vs. right hander. Twelve top-level (i.e., Olympic fencers, Junior World Team Fencing Champions, and top Polish senior foil fencers) right-handed female foil fencers (aged 16–30 years) took part in the study. They performed a total of 40 actions: 10 repetitions of offensive actions (attack) and 10 repetitions of defensive actions (defence), each type of action performed under 2 conditions (right- vs. left-handed opponent). While the participants were fencing, their eye movements were being recorded with a remote eye-tracker (SMI ETG 2.0). Both in their offensive and defensive actions, the fencers produced more fixations to the armed hand and spent more time observing the armed hand in duels with a left-handed (vs. right-handed) opponent. In defence, it was also the guard that attracted more fixations and gained a longer observation time in bouts with a left hander. In duels with a right-handed opponent, a higher number of fixations in attack and in defence, and longer observation times in defence were found for the upper torso. The results may point to different perceptual strategies employed in bouts with left- vs. right-handed individuals. The findings from this study may help to promote the implementation of specialized perceptual training programmes in foil fencing.

Background: According to research, fast skating on short distances increases functional asymmetry of leg muscles. As has been proven in many sporting disciplines, this asymmetry can increase the risk of injury. The aim of the study was to analyze the level of right and left myolectrical manifestations of fatigue asymmetry of gluteus maximus muscle in elite skaters on a short track and to compare this phenomenon to a control group. The muscles were chosen deliberately, due to their influence in maintaining the right position during training on ice. Methods: The experiment compared a group of eight members of the Polish Women's National Team in short track with a group of eight non-training people. The subjects did the Biering-Sorensen test, in which sEMG (surface electromyography) signal frequency was measured in the gluteus maximus muscles during an isometric contraction. Myolectrical manifestations of fatigue slopes were analyzed with a ANOVA with repeated measures. In the skaters, the myolectrical manifestations of fatigue differed between the right and the left gluteus maximus muscles. All the skaters had higher myolectrical manifestations of fatigue in the right leg. This phenomenon was not observed in the non-training subjects, who on average had similar myolectrical manifestations of fatigue in both legs. Results: Results showed that the right and the left muscles of the skaters in the experimental group differed in myolectrical manifestations of fatigue, but this difference was non-significant in the control group. The subjects from the two groups did not differ in the myolectrical manifestations of fatigue of the left muscle, they did in the myolectrical manifestations of fatigue of the right muscle. The elite speed-track skaters had higher myolectrical manifestations of fatigue in the right muscle than the non-training subjects. Conclusions: Training should thus be planned in a way that minimizes the risk of causing muscle myolectrical manifestations of fatigue asymmetry in skaters despite the typically asymmetrical muscle work during training on ice and competition, thus new training protocols should be developed or considered to decrease that asymmetry. Trial registration: The tests were previously approved by the Bioethical Commission of the Chamber of Physicians in Opole. (Resolution No. 235 of 13 December 2016).

This paper reports the results of an experiment that aimed to study transfer training in fencing. Fencers from the experimental group underwent six-week transfer training while those from the control group underwent regular fencing training. The fencers’ performance was analyzed thrice: before the experimental training (pretest), immediately after it (posttest), and four weeks after it (retention test). Using a device that simulates fencing moves and analyzes the accuracy of such performance, participants completed, with both hands, three tests related to straight thrust accuracy. While no differences in hand grip strength was observed between the two groups across the three tests, significant differences occurred in terms of their performance on the device. The groups did not differ in the pretests and the retention tests. However, the fencers from the experimental group generally performed better in postests than prestests. These results show that bilateral transfer can be effective in foil fencing training, although its positive effects are short-term. In order to be effective, transfer training should be used as a regular training tool.

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An effective visual perception strategy helps a fencer quickly react to an opponent’s actions. This study aimed to examine and compare visual perception strategies used by high-performance foil fencers (experts) and beginners. In an eye tracking experiment, we analysed to which areas beginning and expert fencers paid attention during duels. Novices paid attention to all examined areas of interest comprising the guard, foil (blade and tip), armed hand, lower torso, and upper torso of their opponents. Experts, however, paid significantly less attention to the foil, picking up information from other areas, mainly the upper torso and the armed hand. These results indicate that expert fencers indeed engage different visual perception strategies than beginners. The present findings highlight the fact that beginner fencers should be taught already in the early stages of their careers how to pick up information from various body areas of their opponents.

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Background According to research, fast skating on short distances increases functional asymmetry of leg muscles. As has been proven in many sporting disciplines, this asymmetry can increase the risk of injury. The aim of the study was to analyze the level of right and left myolectrical manifestations of fatigue asymmetry of gluteus maximus muscle in elite skaters on a short track and to compare this phenomenon to a control group. The muscles were chosen deliberately, due to their influence in maintaining the right position during training on ice.Methods The experiment compared a group of eight members of the Polish Women’s National Team in short track with a group of eight non-training people. The subjects did the Biering-Sorensen test, in which sEMG (surface electromyography) signal frequency was measured in the gluteus maximus muscles during an isometric contraction. Myolectrical manifestations of fatigue slopes were analyzed with a ANOVA with repeated measures. In the skaters, the myolectrical manifestations of fatigue differed between the right and the left gluteus maximus muscles. All the skaters had higher myolectrical manifestations of fatigue in the right leg. This phenomenon was not observed in the non-training subjects, who on average had similar myolectrical manifestations of fatigue in both legs. Results Results showed that the right and the left muscles of the skaters in the experimental group differed in myolectrical manifestations of fatigue, but this difference was non-significant in the control group.The subjects from the two groups did not differ in the myolectrical manifestations of fatigue of the left muscle, they did in the myolectrical manifestations of fatigue of the right muscle. The elite speed-track skaters had higher myolectrical manifestations of fatigue in the right muscle than the non-training subjects.Conclusions Training should thus be planned in a way that minimizes the risk of causing muscle myolectrical manifestations of fatigue asymmetry in skaters despite the typically asymmetrical muscle work during training on ice and competition, thus new training protocols should be developed or considered to decrease that asymmetry.Trial registration The tests were previously approved by the Bioethical Commission of the Chamber of Physicians in Opole. (Resolution No. 235 of 13 December 2016).