[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-detail-83127-en":3,"doc-seo-83127-105":30,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":91},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",{"doc_id":7,"user_id":8,"nickname":9,"user_avatar":10,"doc_module":4,"category_id":11,"category_name":12,"doc_title":13,"doc_description":14,"doc_content":15,"file_id":16,"file_url":17,"file_type":18,"file_size":19,"view_count":20,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":21,"is_downloadable":21,"audit_status":21,"page_count":22,"language":23,"language_code":24,"site_id":25,"html_lang":24,"table_of_contents":26,"faqs":27,"seo_title":13,"seo_description":14,"update_tm":28,"read_time":29},83127,1099514067438,"River Wang","https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/100002539ee87300030?x-image-process=image/resize,m_fixed,w_180,h_180&k=1780474512215547542",8,"Research & Report","Esports and Physiological Tremor in a StarCraft 2 Tournament Study","Physiological tremor of the upper limb is treated as a sensitive neuromuscular indicator that may shift under cognitive load and competitive stress, yet its real esports behavior was not well characterized. Wrist accelerometer tremor was measured in 16 healthy male StarCraft 2 players across two tournament days, using log power spectral density and dominant frequency across multiple bands. Players diverged from population norms at all bands, with adaptation-like frequency-specific changes, and tremor systematically declined over the tournament day.","arXiv :2607 .06577v1 [ q-bio .QM] 2 Jul 2026  \nESPORTS AND PHYSIOLOGICAL TREMOR A STARCRAFT 2  \nTOURNAMENT STUDY  \nA PREPRINT  \nAndrzej Białecki∗, Izabela Ghafour, Szymon Kuli, Maciej Skorulski, Jan Gajewski  \nABSTRACT  \nPhysiological tremor of the upper limb is a sensitive neuromuscular indicator that may be modulated by cognitive load and competitive stress, yet its behaviour in real esports conditions remainsuncharacterised. We measured wrist accelerometer-based tremor in 16 healthy adult male StarCraft 2 players across two tournament days, computing log power spectral density (log(PSD)) and dominant frequency in four bands (2–4, 8–14, 10–20, and 1–25Hz) and comparing them to published population norms using linear mixed models. Players deviated significantly from the reference in all bands: log (PSD) was elevated at 2–4 Hz and substantially reduced at higher frequencies (Cohen’sd = 1 .6–2.3), suggesting long-term neuromuscular adaptation to the fine-motor demands of esports.  \nTremor indicators declined systematically over the tournament day. Contrary to the fatigue-related increases typical of traditional motor tasks. Neither game outcome nor actions per minute significantly predicted post-game tremor. These findings suggest physiological tremor may reflect a generalised psychophysiological adaptation to competitive esports rather than being a short-term performance predictor.  \nKeywords esports · tremor · tournament · biomechanics · StarCraft 2  \n1 Introduction  \nRecent advancements in technology have enabled the growth of new media such as gaming and electronic sports (esports) [1] . This new venue of human activity opens a world in which everyone is connected via high-speed internet [2] . Although there are many definitions of esports [3], and their recognition as a sports category is not universal [4], this area of human interest has been classified as high-performance human-computer interaction [5] . For the sake of our article, we assume that “Esports is a group of sports that use electronics and telecommunication technologies to create the means of competition for their users that intend to maximize their skill” [6] . While there are many video games to choose from, there is no doubt that StarCraft 2 is one of the long-standing esports titles [7, 8] . Even in the absence of the aforementioned global recognition, the academic interest in this field is evident in the growing number of articles published on the topic [9, 10] .  \nResearch on esports is especially rewarding due to the apparent lack of knowledge on the training methodologies [10] . Similar to traditional sports, all areas of research on human activity and performance optimization could be applied inesports, e.g., biomechanics [11], psychology [9, 12, 13], and physiology [14], among others. Gaming, and therefore esports, is a multidisciplinary area of research; fully understanding the issues faced by many stakeholders requires knowledge of many adjacent areas [15] . Furthermore, the issue of moving forward with practical esports and gaming research stems from the many game genres in existence [10] . Each type differs in rules, display methods, and required skills. The fragmented nature of games introduces the need for specialization; understanding the differences between games and the motivations for play is crucial [16–18] . While some works exist to differentiate between game genres using biomechanical indicators [19], it is not entirely clear how the tournament load affects players’ performance in these areas. Hotkey use could contribute to the overall biomechanical load sustained during such events. Interestingly, previous research did show that hotkey use is one of the key predictors, along with the number of perception-action cycles (PACs) [20] . In the end, objective physiological markers of load in esports remain limited [21], and we ought to aim to quantify the tournament load players need to withstand.  \n∗ Corresponding author: [andrzej.bialecki","cbCaigFuuAR1nfMM","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaigFuuAR1nfMM","pdf",464370,2,1,11,"English","en",105,"# Introduction\n## Physiological tremor as a neuromuscular indicator\n## Rationale for studying tremor in esports tournaments\n## Limitations of existing evidence","[{\"question\":\"How was physiological tremor measured in the StarCraft 2 tournament study?\",\"answer\":\"The study used wrist accelerometer-based recordings from 16 healthy male players across two tournament days, then computed log power spectral density and dominant frequency in defined frequency bands.\"},{\"question\":\"What overall pattern did players show compared with published population norms?\",\"answer\":\"Players showed significant deviations from reference norms in all analyzed bands, with elevated log PSD in the 2–4 Hz band and reduced power at higher frequencies.\"},{\"question\":\"Do tournament outcomes or gameplay speed predict tremor after the match?\",\"answer\":\"Neither game outcome nor actions per minute significantly predicted post-game tremor, while tremor indicators declined across the tournament day.\"}]",1784185461,28,{"code":4,"msg":31,"data":32},"ok",{"site_id":25,"language":24,"slug":33,"title":13,"keywords":34,"description":14,"schema_data":35,"social_meta":86,"head_meta":88,"extra_data":90,"updated_unix":28},"esports-and-physiological-tremor-in-a-starcraft-2-tournament-study","",{"@graph":36,"@context":85},[37,53,68],{"@type":38,"itemListElement":39},"BreadcrumbList",[40,44,47,50],{"item":41,"name":42,"@type":43,"position":21},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":45,"name":46,"@type":43,"position":20},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",{"item":48,"name":12,"@type":43,"position":49},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":51,"name":13,"@type":43,"position":52},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/esports-and-physiological-tremor-in-a-starcraft-2-tournament-study/83127/",4,{"url":51,"name":13,"@type":54,"author":55,"headline":13,"publisher":57,"fileFormat":60,"inLanguage":24,"description":14,"dateModified":61,"datePublished":62,"encodingFormat":60,"isAccessibleForFree":63,"interactionStatistic":64},"DigitalDocument",{"name":9,"@type":56},"Person",{"url":41,"name":58,"@type":59},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-07-21","2026-07-16",true,{"@type":65,"interactionType":66,"userInteractionCount":20},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":67},"ViewAction",{"@type":69,"mainEntity":70},"FAQPage",[71,77,81],{"name":72,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":74},"How was physiological tremor measured in the StarCraft 2 tournament study?","Question",{"text":75,"@type":76},"The study used wrist accelerometer-based recordings from 16 healthy male players across two tournament days, then computed log power spectral density and dominant frequency in defined frequency bands.","Answer",{"name":78,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":79},"What overall pattern did players show compared with published population norms?",{"text":80,"@type":76},"Players showed significant deviations from reference norms in all analyzed bands, with elevated log PSD in the 2–4 Hz band and reduced power at higher frequencies.",{"name":82,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":83},"Do tournament outcomes or gameplay speed predict tremor after the match?",{"text":84,"@type":76},"Neither game outcome nor actions per minute significantly predicted post-game tremor, while tremor indicators declined across the tournament 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