ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Virtual Real.
Sec. Virtual Reality and Human Behaviour
Volume 6 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/frvir.2025.1627992
This article is part of the Research TopicRevolutionizing sports science: Biomechanical models, wearable tech, and AIView all 6 articles
Enhancing adaptations to peripheral distractors during basketball throwing in real world through virtual reality application
Provisionally accepted
- Otto-von-Guericke University, Magdeburg, Germany
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Introduction: The role of sensory distractors has been understudied, particularly in the context of training the sensory system to filter essential information during motor performances. In sports, many distracting peripheral stimuli can disturb an athlete's optimal performance, such as an opponent attempting to block a throw or disrupt walking paths. This study investigated whether Virtual Reality (VR) technology could mitigate such influences by creating a virtual training scenario involving a basketball throwing task. Methods: 54 participants were divided into three groups who underwent different training: one group trained in the real world (RW_G), another that trained in a virtual environment (VR_G), both with an opponent, and a third group (RW_WO) trained in the real world (RE) without an opponent. The RW_WO group was excluded from the main analysis, as it did not fulfill the necessary prerequisites, which are described later. Pre-and post-tests were conducted to assess whether the participants improved performance by reducing the disturbance effect of the opponent. A self-defined scoring system was used to quantify the participants' performances, which was compared across different throwing conditions (with and without opponent's impact). A three-way ANOVA with repeated measurements with Bonferroni-corrected post hoc tests was conducted, including the between-subject factor group [RW_G, VR_G] and the within-subject factors Time [Pretest, Posttest] and Condition [with and without opponent]. Results: No significant interaction of Time*Condition*Group was found between the groups RW_G and VR_G (p =.552), indicating similar habituation to the opponent after VR and RW sensory training. In the posttest, no significant differences existed between conditions (with and without opponent) were observed in either group. Discussion: VR training can match the effectiveness of training in real-world conditions. However, its benefits appear to be limited to participants who were genuinely affected by an opponent attempting to block the throw (beginners). The role of distractive stimuli is discussed, and possible future implementations are suggested.
Keywords: virtual reality, peripheral distractors, head-mounted display, Basketball, Throwing, virtual opponent
Received: 13 May 2025; Accepted: 29 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Pastel, Steinert, Schwadtke, Birkenfeld, Bürger and Witte. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Stefan Pastel, Otto-von-Guericke University, Magdeburg, Germany
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.