Task-Specific Associations Between Sports Visual Abilities and Soccer-Specific Short-Passing Performance in Highly Trained Male Collegiate Soccer Players

<title>Abstract</title> <p>Background Short passing requires players to identify a target, regulate ball control, and select an appropriate response under time pressure. Although visual information is central to this process, it remains unclear whether different sports visual abilities are similarly related to performance. This study examined which abilities were most closely associated with short-passing performance in highly trained male collegiate soccer players. Methods Seventy outfield players completed ten assessments of visual function, visual attention, and visuomotor performance using the Senaptec Sensory Station. Short-passing performance was assessed from the mean total performance time of two Loughborough Soccer Passing Test trials. Spearman rank correlations were calculated for each visual measure, with Benjamini–Hochberg false discovery rate correction. Measures that remained significant and showed strong or very strong associations were entered simultaneously into an exploratory multiple linear regression model. Model assumptions, influential observations, and internal predictive stability were examined. Results Reaction time and Go/No Go showed the largest associations with mean total performance time (ρ = 0.723 and ρ = −0.722, respectively; both adjusted P &lt; 0.001). Target capture and eye-hand coordination also showed strong associations, depth perception showed a moderate association, and Perception Span and contrast sensitivity showed weak associations. Near/Far Quickness, multiple object tracking, and visual clarity were not significant after correction. The four-predictor model explained 76.0% of the variance in mean total performance time (adjusted R² = 0.746). Reaction time, Go/No Go, and target capture retained independent associations, whereas eye-hand coordination did not. The coefficient pattern was unchanged after potentially influential observations were removed. Leave-one-out cross-validation yielded Q² = 0.725, a root mean square error of 4.19 s, and a mean absolute error of 3.46 s. Conclusions Associations with Loughborough Soccer Passing Test performance differed across visual measures. Faster visuomotor responses, better selective response control, and quicker target acquisition were most consistently related to better performance. This pattern supports a task-specific interpretation of the relationship between visual function and soccer skill. Because the study was cross-sectional and used a standardized field test, the findings do not establish causality and should not be treated as direct evidence of passing performance in competition. Trial registration: Chinese Clinical Trial Registry, 10 June 2026 (ChiCTR2600126529).</p>