FIFA 21 players can finally feel vindicated as a new study has revealed that leaning forward during tense moments could be significantly beneficial for them.
'Gamer lean' has become a long-running meme on the internet now as players shift their body position to show they mean business and to turn the tide of a match back in their favour.
While a hilarious meme for many fans to share on social media, leaning forward might play an important role in helping some players to secure a win in a FIFA match.
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Stakester teamed up with the University of Leeds to conduct the study involving 10,000 players.
According to the findings, 79.9 per cent of participants revealed that they would lean forward when they were gaming.
Dr Andrea Utley, who is a reader in motor control and development in the School of Biomedical Sciences, explained how the leaning forward technique can help a player.
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"Moving your main sensory system closer will help your focus and concentration, but without full postural support, especially from the trunk and neck muscles, you will get fatigued," she said.
Stakester and the University of Leeds' study found interesting results from the almost 8,000 participants who said they leaned forward.
A whopping 49.2 per cent said they moved into the position naturally, while 9.3 per cent chose to do it deliberately and 41.5 per cent found that they did both.
Explanations for the shift in body position varied in the study, too, with some claiming that the lean "supported my body better."
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Some players, on the other hand, believe that the lean helped cut out any distractions as they focused on what was happening on the screen.
Dr Utley and Stakester conducted a focused study on a select number of players after they established the lean forward meme is a "real phenomenon."
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The concentrated study looked into 'casual' FIFA players as they recruited 10 people who played for an average of 8-10 hours a week.
As part of the study, Dr Utley asked the participants to record themselves playing FIFA during a total of five online matches.
However, none of the FIFA players were told the reasons for the study and the 'lean forward phenomenon' wasn't mentioned to them.
Stakester wrote in the findings: "We analysed each player's movement and body position in the footage.
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"We noted every major event that transpired in-game, how players reacted to them and their body position when each event occurred."
When it came to the findings for the 50-match study, those players who leaned forward managed to score a staggering 110 times.
The 110 times is more than double the 52 goals that players scored from a non-leaning position, according to the study.
Footage from the study interestingly revealed that players who leaned forward were more likely to do it when a certain player came in control of the ball.
For example, Juventus superstar Cristiano Ronaldo led to a significant increase of players leaning forward when the ball was passed to him.
But the attacking side isn't the only area that benefited from the lean forward, as those who didn't do it were more likely to concede.
Dr Utley has warned that leaning forward all the time doesn't mean that players will be at their best for the full 90 minutes of the match.
In fact, players' performances could start to decline the longer they stay in the position, especially based on the findings in the study.
Dr Utley said: "Winning players leaned forwards for just 4.69 minutes -- 35.5% of an average length game -- while losers spent 7.93 minutes in the leaning position [...] 52.6% of the average game on FIFA 21."
Featured Image Credit: PA/TwitterTopics: GAMING, EA, Electronic Arts, EA Sports, FIFA 21