Stroboscopic Vision Training in Softball

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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Enhanced sports performance, in our current world, is being pushed at the professional level and down to school-age children as well. Money is being spent on lessons and equipment to enhance performance. One new method to enhance performance is stroboscopic vision goggles. The glasses lenses flicker removing visual information for a brief moment. The claim is that they train connections between the eyes, brain, and body. We want to see if this product truly does enhance visual performance during a softball season for high school girls.

Detailed Description
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In today's sports world, every strategy to perform at the highest level is needed. Current literature is demonstrating enhanced sports performance using stroboscopic vision training.1,2,5 The objective of this randomized controlled trial is to measure the effect of a stroboscopic visual training in a high school softball season in comparison to controls. Athletes in the control group will go through normal practice drills for hitting and fielding. The stroboscopic training (experimental group) will use the strobe glasses during hitting and fielding drills two times a week in practice. The brand of strobe glasses is Senaptec Strobe. Athletes in both the experimental and control groups will have their vision assessed at the beginning of the season and end by The West Texas Vision Center. Measurements for vision will include developmental eye movement, vergence ranges, Randot stereopsis test, accommodative ranges, acuity, and stereo scores. On-field performance measurements will be collected for batting statistics including on-base percentage, batting average, slugging percentage, and hard-hit ball percentage in both the experimental and control groups. The current year batting statistics will be compared with the prior year statistics if enough at-bats occurred. In addition, to the vision and on-field hitting performance proprioception balance using the Balance Error Scoring System (BESS) will be measured at the beginning of the season and end for both groups. Our data will provide quantified information for coaches, athletes, and health care providers concerning the benefits of the strobe glasses warrant buying to enhance sports performance. Additionally, we wish to determine whether visual-motor and proprioception balance changes occur after the training.

Official Title
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Effect of Stroboscopic Vision Training in a Softball Season: A Randomized Controlled Trial Pilot Study

Conditions
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Sports Performance, Vision, Ocular

Intervention / Treatment
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* Device: Senaptec Strobe Glasses
* Other: Standard softball drills


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: 1) Age 14-18 years 2) females; 3) high school softball Exclusion Criteria: 1) Prior use of stroboscopic vision training; 2) History of seizures; 3) History of vestibular impairments

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 14 Years
Maximum Age: 18 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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Female

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Treatment
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Interventional Model Description: The pilot study will use a pre-test post-test randomized controlled trial.
Masking: Single


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: Stroboscopic Training Group<br>Treatment group, which will receive stroboscopic training during hitting and fielding drills. The glasses look like sunglasses but have liquid crystal technology that causes a flicker from clear to opaque. The glasses flickering will be controlled on the side of the glasses by the researcher. When the athlete can complete a skill proficiently by catching or hitting during training the level of flickering will be increased to challenge the visual system more. | Device: Senaptec Strobe Glasses<br>* The glasses use liquid crystal technology that causes a flicker from clear to opaque to enhance vision.<br>|
| Active Comparator: Standard softball drills<br>Control group, which will perform normal hitting and fielding drills without stroboscopic training | Other: Standard softball drills<br>* Control group, which will perform normal hitting and fielding drills without stroboscopic training<br>|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Vergence ranges | Vergence ranges measured how many prism diopters the subject can turn their eyes in (base out) and how far they can relax them out (base in). This score is also a good measure of how much peripheral fusion a person has. | 8 weeks | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Developmental eye movement | Developmental eye movement will measure how fast the subject can track numbers vertically and horizontally. | 8 weeks | 
| Randot stereopsis test | Randot stereopsis test will measures how many ARC seconds of stereo the subject has. This test measures the subject's magno and parvocellular stereo tracking their peripheral or central fusion. | 8 weeks | 
| Accommodative ranges | Accommodative ranges will measure how many times the subject can clear an image looking through a plus and minus accommodation flipper in thirty seconds. | 8 weeks | 
| Acuity | Acuity will measure the clarity of vision at a distance of twenty feet. | 8 weeks | 
| Stereo Scores | Stereo Scores will measure how quickly the athlete recognizes depth perception | 8 weeks | 
| Batting statistics | Batting statistics including on-base percentage, batting average, slugging percentage, hard-hit ball percentage will be provided by the coach at the end of the season for the current year and prior year. Subjects will need a minimum of 20 at-bats in a season for collection of these statistics. | 8 weeks | 
| Balance Error Scoring System (BESS) | Balance Error Scoring System (BESS) measures the total number of postural errors committed in a 30-second trial standing on flat surface and foam pad. It provides a measure of balance and proprioceptive ability. | 8 weeks | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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Stroboscopic, Vision Training, Softball, On-field performance