## 1 Introduction  
Recently, the role of exercise in improving executive functioning skills has been highlighted by researchers and conditioning specialists. However, their importance in sport remains widely unknown, and it is unclear if the measurement and training of executive functions are justifiable to help predict and develop talented individuals [1].  
The evidence supports the benefits of both acute and long-term exercise for improvements in cognitive functions. In particular, working memory [2], the attention window and multiple object tracking [3, 4] are trainable cognitive functions. Consequently, cognitive exercises included in the training routine may contribute to the enhancement of athletic performance [5, 6, 7, 8], as well as to the prevention of injuries [9, 10]. Nevertheless, there are only a few studies that demonstrate the relationship between basic cognitive functions and sport-specific motor skills. For instance, the diagonal attention window is positively associated with dribbling skills, which indicates that a broader attention window could be beneficial for highly demanding motor skills in soccer players [11]. Working memory capacity is positively related to dribbling, ball control and ball juggling [11]. Additionally, the cumulative score of cognitive tests is positively related to the cumulative motor test score, which supports the interplay of physical and psychological skills [11]. In particular, executive functions represent fundamental associations with game intelligence and game time in soccer players [12]. Furthermore, there is a large positive correlation of the cumulative score summarizing cognitive functions with the cumulative score summarizing sport-specific physical performance in volleyball players [13]. Small-to-medium correlations also occur between cognitive and motor skills [13]. This indicates that volleyball players with superior basic cognitive functions present better sport-specific physical performance [13]. In particular, fast and accurate decision making may determine success in many team and combat sports [14].  
A recent literature analysis revealed a lack of research investigating the acute effect of fatigue on reactive agility, along with cognitive functions such as memory or learning [15]. Prolonged exercise causes a decline in the decision-making, attention and perception abilities of players. However, an alteration in players' cognitive performance depends on the intensity and duration of fatigue-inducing tasks. Both exercise and mental fatigue can cause the accuracy of sport-specific tasks involving cognitive components to deteriorate. For example, mental fatigue and the consequent deterioration of decision making can be triggered by at least 30 min of a Stroop color-word task or smartphone application exposure. Taking into account possible negative effects of fatiguing exercise or mentally demanding tasks on human cognition, future research should consider the examination of different types and intensities of exercise on players' cognitive performance.  
However, a systematic review by [PERSON] et al. [16] showed a limited support for the transfer of benefits from commercial cognitive training devices to sporting tasks, mainly because studies did not target the sporting environment. The evidence for sporting benefits is currently limited by the paucity of representative transfer tests and a focus on populationswith health conditions. Therefore, cognitive tests should be integrated into testing batteries for athletes in order to scout and optimize their development [17]. In practice, reactive agility tests that address both perception and decision making (cognitive processing) and the physical component (i.e., change of direction speed) are frequently used for this purpose.