AI Insight
This network meta-analysis of 12 randomized controlled trials examined how different ball sports affect executive function subdomains in children and adolescents. The analysis found that different ball sports showed varying domain-specific effects: football showed potential for improving inhibitory control accuracy, tennis for working memory reaction time, and table tennis for cognitive flexibility reaction time. However, sensitivity analyses revealed that findings for inhibitory control and cognitive flexibility lacked robustness and were highly dependent on sample characteristics, while working memory results were more stable.
Why it matters
These findings suggest that specific ball sports could be strategically selected to target particular cognitive skills in youth populations, potentially informing physical education curriculum design and cognitive intervention programs. However, the high heterogeneity and limited robustness of some findings indicate that practitioners should exercise caution when implementing sport-based interventions for cognitive enhancement.
ObjectivesBall sports interventions have been shown to yield positive effects on executive functions (EF). The aim of this study is to use network meta-analysis (NMA) to evaluate the differences in the impact of different ball sports on the subdomains of EF among children and adolescents.MethodsFive databases, including PubMed, Cochrane, Embase, Web of Science, and Scopus, were searched up to November 2025 to identify randomized controlled trials measuring the effect of different ball sports on the subdomains of EF among children and adolescents. Paired analyses and network meta-analyses were conducted using the random-effects model.ResultsThis study included 12 studies with five ball sports interventions. Ball sports showed domain-specific effects on EF in children and adolescents. The surface under the cumulative ranking curve (SUCRA) reveals that football may be a potentially effective intervention for improving the accuracy rate of inhibitory control (SUCRA = 76.69%). For working memory, ball sports did not consistently enhance accuracy, with the control condition showing the highest ranking (SUCRA = 80.93%). In contrast, tennis exhibited the greatest likelihood of improving reaction time (SUCRA = 99.99%). Table tennis may be a potentially effective intervention for improving reaction time of cognitive flexibility (SUCRA = 99.97%). Sensitivity analyses restricted to typically developing samples revealed notable changes in network structures and SUCRA rankings for inhibitory control accuracy, inhibitory control reaction time, and cognitive flexibility accuracy.ConclusionDifferent ball sports demonstrated varying effects across executive function subdomains. However, the findings for inhibitory control and cognitive flexibility were highly dependent on sample composition and lacked robustness, whereas those for working memory were relatively stable. Due to limited evidence and high heterogeneity, the results should be interpreted with caution.Systematic review registrationhttps://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/view/CRD420251038836.