Heart Rate Differences Between Elite and Casual Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Players Across Tournament Phases

Super Smash Bros Ultimate (SSBU) is a prominent title in the expanding Esports industry, whereby players are potentially placed under unique neurophysiological demands that have been partially attributed to enhanced blood flow. Moreoever, the influence of player skill and tournament-specific situations on these outcomes are sparsely described. PURPOSE: to examine the within- and between-group differences in heart rate (HR) between elite-level (5 ES; internationally-ranked) and casual (6 CAS; plays > 4 hr/wk) SSBU players throughout their participation in double-elimination tournaments. METHODS: After screening and baseline assessments, participant HRs were fitted with an H10 Polar chest-based monitor and individual HR values were sampled every 30-seconds throughout their individual tournament participation. Independent and dependent T-tests were employed to assess potential between-group (ES vs CAS) and within-group bracket phase (Winners versus Losers) mean HR differences. Furthermore, separate one-way ANOVA with repeated measures were employed to analyse within-group mean HR differences across games (games 1-5; combined best-of-three and -five sets), whereby all statistical tests were performed at p