WOMEN'S ESPORTS 1. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PERFORMANCE AND THE OVARIAN-MENSTRUAL CYCLE

Abstract

Aim. This study aims to establish the presence and characterize the nature of the relationship between female esports performance and the phase of their ovarian-menstrual cycle (OMC). Materials and methods. For 144 healthy women, a training stage in esports was modeled as ten rounds of one popular esports discipline. Performance was assessed via a metric of standardized esports accuracy. The presence and nature of the relationship between esports accuracy and OMC phase, tracked on a daily basis, were evaluated using correlation analysis and the method of least squares (regression). Results. A relationship exists between esports accuracy in adolescent females and the phase of their OMC. The strength of this relationship is very strong. Its nature is nonlinear and polynomial, specifically representing a fragment of a sinusoidal curve. The ascending phase of this sinusoid coincides with the acrophase of the pre-ovulatory period, corresponding to days 1 through 6-8 of the OMC. The descending phase corresponds to the postovulatory period, from its start until the bathyphase (around day 21 ± a range of variability). Thereafter, a rise in esports accuracy is extrapolated up to the onset of menstruation. This pattern was identified during the training stage and holds the potential to be leveraged in competitive settings, provided there is precise monitoring of female players’ hormonal profiles. Conclusion. Women's esports performance is not solely a cognitive phenomenon but is, to a significant degree, a psychoemotional one, governed by the natural, biorhythmic fluctuations of neurohormonal status that follow a monthly cycle.