Stroboscopic Eyewear Applied During Warm-Up Does Not Provide Additional Benefits to the Sport-Specific Reaction Speed in Highly Trained Table Tennis Athletes

PURPOSE: While long-term training with stroboscopic eyewear suggests performance-enhancing effects on visuomotor abilities, it remains unclear whether a short-term application, for example, during a warm-up, results in immediate performance gains. This study evaluated potential performance-enhancing effects of stroboscopic eyewear applied during warm-up on reaction speed that may provide athletes an edge in visuomotor-demanding sports. METHODS: Twenty-eight international-level table tennis athletes participated in this study. Participants performed their individual 10-minute table-tennis-specific warm-up under normal visual conditions and with stroboscopic eyewear. Prior to and after the warm-up, visuomotor reaction time was assessed in a sport-specific reaction test where athletes had to return 30 table tennis balls played by a ball machine at high speed to their backhand side. Reaction time was determined as the interval between ball output and movement onset as triggered by a mechanical switch. Furthermore, the time between ball-table contact and ball-racket contact (hit time) was analyzed as an indicator of how early the athletes intercepted the ball. RESULTS: Reaction time significantly improved following the warm-up (P < .001, ηp2=.393). However, there was no additional benefit of the stroboscopic eyewear (P = .338, ηp2=.034). No changes after the warm-up were observed for hit time (P = .246, ηp2=.055). CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate that warm-up facilitated visuomotor reaction speed; however, stroboscopic eyewear did not provide additional positive effects when compared to a warm-up under normal visual conditions. While shutter glasses may be useful for training over longer periods, short-term positive effects were not supported in this study.