# VR as an Innovative Learning Tool in Sports Education
## 1 Introduction  
Virtual Reality (VR), as part of the Extended Reality (XR) domain, enables immersive learning in innovative practice platforms that can be presented, for instance, via head-mounted displays such as 3D glasses [1]. VR technology makes it possible to exclude visual elements from the real world and to step into a virtual environment [2]. Learners can observe [3] and simulate [4] motions independently. In some application areas, VR has already been established as a useful method to optimize learning. In the medical field, it has been found helpful in surgical suture training, in which motor action instructions were given using VR, which helped medical students improve their performance and transfer the skills to actual operating rooms [4]. VR has also been used to provide visual self-presentation and visual representation of desired body motions by creating virtual avatars [5]. [PERSON] et al. used VR for presenting a motion-captured avatar of a subject and an avatar of a previously recorded motion of a coach side-by-side, allowing learners to directly compare both motion executions and extract performance-determining factors [6]. These avatars, particularly in sports training, can influence users on a psychological level. They have been found to induce increased motivation, more intense motion perception, lower perceived effort, targeted focus of attention, and change in self-concept [7]. In order to train and regain body balance, specialized feedback training with VR helpsto better perceive one's own body and reduce the swaying of the hip and ankle joints in learners accordingly [8]. An integrated, haptic-assisted VR system for planning a surgical procedure has also proven helpful in focusing attention and leading to greater intuitiveness and reduction in motion planning errors compared to traditional approaches [9]. Furthermore, medical students have greater learning motivation and learning competence through a VR-based learning tool than with text-based learning [10]. VR has also been recognised to be beneficial in its application for team development with pedagogically valuable factors. In one of the studies, the primary task in a learning setting of trainees was to take on different roles in a team and make joint decisions while simulating a climb of the Mount Everest [11]. The experiment group previously received a VR training in which a realistic representation of the Mount Everest and its surrounding environment were specified. They achieved more team goals, i.e., communication skills and team dynamics, in the subsequent task than the control group, which had not previously received such a training. This indicated that immersion in realistic and naturalistic learning environments enabled by VR could facilitate learning processes that have a consistently positive effect on teamwork. In summary, the studies on VR have already shown beneficial properties for learning in various application fields. However, in relation to the aim of this study, the question arises about the extended use of VR in school education as well as in combination with sports learning--an extremely crucial field of learning where young people are educated for lifelong active living [12]. In school education, VR-based learning environments have already been found to have a positive impact on students' perceptions. In particular, 10 th-grade learners' perception of the classroom and the teaching equipment as well as the social and teaching presence have been enhanced by learning in VR environments [13]. Furthermore, in sport-specific developments in education, researchers have already looked at the application of VR for motion learning in the school sport subject of dance. In particular, the development of game-based video learning has been used. Thus, dance lessons in such learning environments are organised in a way that students practise motion sequences to music in small group constellations using virtual dance games such as Just Dance, a commercial multiplayer game.