Esports Training in StarCraft II: Stance Stability and Grip Strength

TL;DR

This study addresses the sedentary nature of esports by comparing top Polish StarCraft II players to a physically active student reference group, focusing on balance, grip strength, and training habits. It employs grip dynamometry, stabilometric balance testing, and a comprehensive training questionnaire, analyzed with RM ANOVA and related statistics. The findings show weaker single-leg balance and grip strength among esports players despite self-reported activity, underscoring the need for targeted physical training and periodization to preserve neuromuscular function and potentially improve performance. The work emphasizes integrating physical conditioning into esports research and practice and suggests sensor-fusion approaches to link physical profiles with game outcomes.

Abstract

Esports are a mostly sedentary activity. There is a growing need for investigation into how biomechanical and physical abilities can be optimized for esports through training. One such research avenue concerns the ability of esports players to perform balance tasks due to the prolonged sedentary states that are required to reach the top echelon of performance. Our aim for this work is to describe and compare physical abilities (balance, grip strength, and self-reported training habits) of top Polish StarCraft~2 tournament players. Esports players differed significantly from the reference group in their ability to balance on one leg. Additionally, in a grip strength test, the esports group fared worse than the reference group in all consecutive attempts. Despite self-reported physical activity in the esports group, player fitness requires further research. Training optimization could offset the issues arising from sedentary activity, and intensifying esports training so it could take less time overall.

Figures (3)

• Figure 1: Self-reported most frequent training times for the esports group.
• Figure 2: Self-reported physical training time in both groups.
• Figure 3: Results of the grip strength measurements split by group.