Do strategically demanding sports shape hand function alike? Distinct profiles of dexterity and grip strength in basketball and badminton athletes.

PURPOSE: Long-term participation in strategic sports may enhance hand dexterity and cognitive function, but sport-specific differences in manual control, force production, and cognition remain unclear. This study compared hand dexterity, grip strength, and cognitive performance among basketball athletes, badminton athletes, and non-athletes.

METHODS

This cross-sectional observational study included 90 right-handed participants (6 females, 84 males; mean age 20.57 ± 1.64 years) divided into the basketball athlete group (BAG), badminton athlete group (BmAG), and non-athlete controls (NCG). Participants completed the Purdue Pegboard Test (PPT), Grooved Pegboard Test (GPT), handgrip strength test (HD), Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), and Stroop Color-Word Test (SCWT).

Results

Both BAG and BmAG outperformed NCG in PPT dominant-hand scores, combined task scores, GPT completion speed, MoCA scores, and SCWT word reading (all P < 0.05). BmAG also showed superior PPT non-dominant-hand performance, bimanual coordination, and total scores compared with NCG, and better bimanual coordination than BAG (BmAG vs. NCG: P < 0.001, d = 0.96; BmAG vs. BAG: P = 0.033, d = 0.66). BAG demonstrated greater dominant-hand grip strength than NCG (P = 0.007, d = 0.90), whereas BmAG did not. No group differences were found in SCWT inhibitory control or cognitive flexibility.

CONCLUSION

Badminton participation was associated with superior fine motor control and bimanual coordination, whereas basketball participation was associated with greater dominant-hand grip strength. Both athletic groups showed better selected manual and cognitive outcomes than NCG. However, the cross-sectional, male-skewed sample cannot establish causality, and the MoCA findings should be interpreted cautiously because of its ceiling effect in healthy young participants. Longitudinal or intervention studies are warranted. After Holm-Bonferroni correction for multiple outcomes, the group effects for PPT non-dominant-hand performance, dominant-hand grip strength, and Stroop word reading did not remain significant and are therefore interpreted as exploratory.