Clinical trial NCT03946436: Playing AVI During Tennis Training Process
Official title: Impact of Active Video Games on Motor- and Visual Spatial-learning Capabilities During the Process of Tennis Training in Young Children
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Learning, Spatial
Cognitive Change
Keywords: stroke technique
psychophysiological body responses
visual perceptual skills
reaction time.
Lead sponsor: Science and Research Centre Koper
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: Science and Research Centre Koper
name: University of Primorska
First posted: 2019-05-10
Enrollment: 55
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 7
Maximum age (years): 9
Standard ages: CHILD
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: TREATMENT

Brief summary: Developing movement capabilities and efficiently acquiring and assimilating movement information and knowledge in middle childhood stages is of great importance for performing complex movement structures in later stages of life. Our study is directed to researching the influence of active video games (AVG) on assessment of tennis motor skills and visual capabilities in middle childhood, as a part of two separate sub-researches.

Detailed description: In the first sub-research, which included a sample of 55 children aged between 7 and 9, the investigators measured the physiological responses of bodies after acute and chronic exposure to playing AVG. The investigators established a significant difference in skin conductance before beginning the intervention between the virtual and actual game. After the intervention, the experimental group had a significantly higher average value of heart rate frequency and breathing frequency while playing AVG in comparison to the control group.

In the second sub-research the investigators measured progress in tennis technique (TRSC test), development of gross motor skills and change in reaction time on the same group of children. In the TRSC test, the control group improved in all sub-groups with both strokes. The experimental group made no improvements in sub-group 3d with the ''forehand'', 1d and 3d with the ''backhand''. In the gross motor skill development test the investigators have not established a significant interaction effect. In the analogue reaction time measurement test, the investigators recorded a significant interaction between time x group. The same goes for Simon's test with incongruent stimuli, with congruent the interaction was of no relevance.

The investigators established that the use of AVG can represent a new strategy for combining movement/sports activities and cognitively directed tasks aiming at effective assessment of tennis skills.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Age limit

Exclusion Criteria:

* excluded were players with injuries or long-term body impairments that prevented them from performing shots as they are usually instructed.

Primary outcomes:
measure: Psychophysiological body responses 1: skin conductance
timeFrame: change from baseline to 3-months intervention
measure: Psychophysiological body responses 2: skin temperature
timeFrame: change from baseline to 3-months intervention
measure: Psychophysiological body responses 3: heart rate frequency
timeFrame: change from baseline to 3-months intervention
measure: Psychophysiological body responses 4: breathing frequency
timeFrame: change from baseline to 3-months intervention
Secondary outcomes:
measure: TGMD-3 scale (Test of Gross Motor Development-Third Edition)
timeFrame: change from baseline to 3-months intervention
Other outcomes:
measure: Manual/analog visuomotor reaction time task
timeFrame: change from baseline to 3-months intervention
measure: Simon task
timeFrame: change from baseline to 3-months intervention
Locations:
city: Izola
country: Slovenia
facility: Tenis klub San Simon Izola
Study officials:
References:
citation: Slosar L, de Bruin ED, Fontes EB, Plevnik M, Pisot R, Simunic B, Marusic U. Additional Exergames to Regular Tennis Training Improves Cognitive-Motor Functions of Children but May Temporarily Affect Tennis Technique: A Single-Blind Randomized Controlled Trial. Front Psychol. 2021 Mar 15;12:611382. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.611382. eCollection 2021.