The Effect of Stroboscopic Visual Training on Eye-Hand Coordination

PAUL ELLISON, Chris Jones, Andy Sparks, PHILIP MURPHY, RICHARD PAGE, EVELYN CARNEGIE, DAVID MARCHANT

Research output: Contribution to journalArticle (journal)peer-review

17 Citations (Scopus)
288 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Background: Stroboscopic visual training (SVT) has been shown to improve cognitive skills and perceptual performance by carrying out events under situations of intermittent vision. Aims: The aim of this study was to investigate whether an SVT training period could improve the eye-hand coordination (EHC) performance on a practiced task for a group of sports participants. Methods: Sixty-two male participants were randomly assigned to either a strobe group (SG n =31), or control group (CG n=31). The method employed a Sport Vision Trainer™ 80 sensor pad to measure the mean speed of reaction time of participants extinguishing randomly illuminated lights on an electronic board. One trial consists of 20 lights. One week following pre-testing on the Sport Vision Trainer™ (4 x 6 trials), a pre-training baseline assessment of 1 x 6 trials was conducted to measure their abilities to complete the EHC task. Four x 6 trials (480 lights) were then completed in the training phase with the CG continuing to train with unimpaired vision whilst the SG wore Nike Vapor Strobes® (Controlled rate of 100ms visible to 150 ms opaque). Post-training assessments were administered immediately, 10-minute and 10-days after SVT each consisting of 6 trials (120 lights). A visual search (VS) non-trained transfer test was also administered pre-SVT and after 10-days. This involved an e-prime program using a laptop where participants had to identify a target stimulus located amongst distractor stimuli. Results: Treatment effects were observed at each time point. Baseline performance was significantly related to retention performance immediately (p = .003), ten-minutes post (p = .001) and ten-days post training (p = .002). No significant differences were found for the VS test. Conclusion: An acute SVT exposure using stroboscopic goggles significantly improved EHC performance. Future research should explore these mechanisms further using different exposure, frequencies, and focused identification of training drills as a complementary intervention for individual or team sports.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1-10
Number of pages10
JournalSport Sciences for Health
Early online date18 Jan 2020
Publication statusE-pub ahead of print - 18 Jan 2020

Keywords

  • Stroboscopic Visual Training
  • Sport Vision Training
  • Nike Vapour Strobes
  • Skill Acquisition

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