Assessing the Impact of a Virtual Reality Cognitive Intervention on Tennis Performance in Junior Tennis Players: Pilot Study

Background There is evidence that cognitive training interventions can positively impact executive functions, and that some studies have demonstrated that athletes typically exhibit greater accuracy and faster response times on select cognitive tasks. While the engagement of executive functions is suggested to be part of high-level sporting activities, it is unclear whether such training approaches could directly benefit athletic performance. Objective The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of a combined virtual reality (VR)– and tablet-based cognitive training intervention on adolescent tennis players’ performance. Here, we examined differences in Universal Tennis Rating (UTR) between players who supplemented their regular tennis training with a cognitive training intervention and a group that continued regular tennis training alone. This custom cognitive training program targeted specific cognitive control abilities including attention, working memory, and goal management. Methods Data were collected from a cohort of tennis players in a randomized controlled trial design led by the dedicated research team. Participants (N=23, age: mean 14.8, SD 2.4 years) from the Czech Lawn Tenis Klub (Prague, Czech Republic) were invited to participate in this study. These individuals were randomized into an intervention + training-as-usual group (n=13) or training-as-usual group (control group; n=10), with the change in UTR score being the primary metric of interest. Results There was no difference in UTR between the 2 groups at baseline (intervention: mean 8.32, SD 2.7; control: mean 7.60, SD 2.3). Following the treatment period, individuals in the intervention group showed a significant improvement in their UTR (an increase of 0.5; t12=4.88, P<.001) unlike the control group (an increase of 0.02; t9=1.77, P=.12). On comparing the change in UTR (posttraining UTR minus pretraining UTR) attained by each group, we found that the intervention group had a 38% greater improvement in UTR than the control group. An analysis of covariance revealed a significantly greater improvement in UTR for the intervention group than for the control group (F1,20=8.82, P=.008). Conclusions The present findings suggest that training cognitive abilities through an immersive visual platform may benefit athletic performance, including tennis. Such a result warrants careful consideration, given the known difficulties in evidencing far transfer not only in cognitive studies but also in athletic activities. These preliminary pilot findings suggest that the Mastermind Cognitive Training program may be a viable tool for supplementing athletic training practices, although this result warrants further investigation and replication. However, many questions remain unanswered, and further work is needed to better understand the potential utility and mechanisms underlying potential effects of such a platform.