A 6-minute add-on visuomotor training improves eye-hand response time, agility and stroke performance among the university tennis team

BACKGROUND: Visuomotor training is a common training method to improve motor performance. Most studies can achieve the effectiveness of training, but there is a lack of information on how long the effectiveness of training can be maintained, and most of the training weeks are conducted at high frequency. Therefore, this study was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of 6-week add-on visuomotor training on eye-hand response time (RT), agility, and stroke performance among university tennis player and follow-up after 3 months. METHODS: Thirty-three tennis players from non-sport university were recruited and assigned to the add-on (N.=16) and active-control (N.=17) group. Both groups attended the same tennis program twice a week for six weeks, and after each tennis program session, the add-on group received a visuomotor training (30s/3 rounds/twice a week). Statistical analysis was performed with independent t-tests and χ² tests to compare the differences between the demographic characteristics and physical performance of two groups. The paired t-test was made to examine the change after training (after training vs. baseline) and change over time (three-month follow-up vs. baseline) in RT, agility, and stroke performance within the same study group. RESULTS: After 6 weeks of training, the add-on group showed significant improvement in eye-hand RT, agility, and stroke performance (all P<0.001). This program improved tennis players’ agility by 11.89%, eye-hand RT by 11.61-19.91%, service return by 46.62%, and groundstroke shots by 83.50%. After 3 months, the add-on group rebounded to baseline, while most of the control group became worse. CONCLUSIONS: The 6 minutes of add-on visuomotor training during a 6-week tennis program improved eye-hand RT, agility, and stroke performance in university tennis players. However, if the add-on visuomotor training was not continued, the performance would return to the basic level after 3 months.