Athletic Performance, Mental Fatigue
Conditions
Keywords
virtual reality, football, technical skills, training load, mental fatigue
Brief summary
Virtual reality (VR) technology has emerged as a promising supplementary training tool in football, yet no study has simultaneously examined its effects on technical skills, training load, and mental fatigue within a randomized controlled design. This study evaluated the effects of an 8-week Rezzil Index® VR training program on football-specific technical skills, training load (sRPE), and mental fatigue in licensed male football players. Twenty-four male football players (age: 18.82±0.85 years) were randomly assigned to a VR training group (n=12) or a control group (n=12). The VR group completed two supplementary sessions per week using the Rezzil Index® application (HTC Vive Pro and Oculus Quest 2) in addition to regular team training. Football-specific technical skills, mental fatigue (Modified Color-Word Stroop Test), and training load (session RPE) were assessed pre- and post-intervention. The VR group demonstrated statistically significant improvements in all technical skill measures (p\<0.05; d=0.91-1.69, large effects). Rezzil Index® VR training is an effective complementary method for improving football-specific technical skills.
Interventions
DEVICERezzil Index VR
Immersive VR football training application (HTC Vive Pro and Oculus Quest 2), 2 sessions/week, 8 weeks
BEHAVIORALRegular Team Training
Participants continued their standard club football training sessions as normal, with no additional VR-based or experimental intervention applied.
Sponsors
Manisa Celal Bayar University
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
OTHER
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
MALE
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* Licensed male football players aged 18 years or older * Active participation in regular team training * No history of serious musculoskeletal injury in the past 6 months
Exclusion criteria
* History of serious injury or surgical intervention * Psychiatric or neurological conditions * Regular use of medication affecting cognitive performance * Prior experience with VR training systems
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| Football-Specific Technical Skills (Heading, Moving Ball Striking, Fixed Ball Striking, Loughborough Soccer Passing Test) | Baseline and Week 8 |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Training Load (Session Rating of Perceived Exertion - sRPE) | Weekly, 8 weeks | Internal training load quantified using session Rating of Perceived Exertion (sRPE), calculated as RPE × session duration (minutes). |
| Mental Fatigue (Modified Color-Word Stroop Test) | Baseline and Week 8 | Mental fatigue assessed using the Modified Color-Word Stroop Test, measuring reaction time (ms) and error rate. Longer reaction times and higher error rates indicate greater mental fatigue. |
Countries
Turkey (Türkiye)
Outcome results
None listed