Effects of Virtual Reality-Based Optokinetic Stimulation Added to Neuromuscular Training in Basketball Players
Visual Dependence · Postural Control · Jump-Landing Biomechanics
What this study involves
The registry says this study is recruiting. Individual locations may have different availability.
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Not applicable
- Age range
- 16 years - 35 years
- Sex eligible
- All sexes
- Healthy volunteers
- Accepted
- Participants
- 42 Estimated
These are starting points, not an eligibility decision. The research team must review the full requirements.
About the research
This study will investigate whether adding virtual reality-based optokinetic stimulation to neuromuscular training improves jump-landing movements, balance, and performance during a visually cued movement task in basketball players. Optokinetic stimulation involves watching moving visual patterns through a virtual reality headset. Neuromuscular training includes strength, balance, and jumping and landing exercises.
Forty-two licensed basketball players aged 16-35 years will be randomly assigned to one of three groups: usual team training alone (control group), neuromuscular training in addition to usual team training, or virtual reality-based optokinetic stimulation followed by neuromuscular training in addition to usual team training. The additional training will be provided three times per week for six weeks.
Assessments will be performed before and after the six-week program. The main outcome will be the maximum amount of knee bending during landing. Other assessments will examine landing forces, lower-limb movements, body movement, standing balance, and reliance on vision for balance. At the end of the program, participants will also complete a jump-landing task in response to colored lights to assess whether movement strategies are maintained under additional cognitive demands.
Read the full description
Basketball involves repeated jumping, landing, and rapid changes in movement. These activities require coordination of visual, vestibular, and somatosensory information. Neuromuscular training may improve movement control, while the additional contribution of virtual reality-based optokinetic stimulation to landing biomechanics and sensory integration will be investigated in this study.
This prospective, three-arm, parallel-group, randomized controlled trial will compare usual team training, additional neuromuscular training, and virtual reality-based optokinetic stimulation combined with the same neuromuscular training program. All participants will continue their usual team training throughout the study.
The neuromuscular training program will progressively incorporate strength, balance, proximal control, and plyometric exercises. In the combined intervention group, optokinetic stimulation will be delivered immediately before each neuromuscular training session using a virtual reality headset. Participants will visually track moving targets while keeping their head and trunk as still as possible. Visual stimulus speed, exposure duration, and postural difficulty will increase progressively over six weeks. Symptoms associated with virtual reality exposure will be monitored throughout the intervention.
Standardized drop vertical jump assessments will be performed using a force platform and an inertial motion capture system. Peak knee flexion angle during the landing deceleration phase will be the primary outcome. Additional measurements will characterize landing kinetics, lower-limb kinematics, center-of-mass movement, and tibial acceleration.
Standing balance will be assessed in tandem stance with eyes open and eyes closed. Center-of-pressure measurements and eyes-closed-to-eyes-open ratios will be used to characterize postural stability and visual dependence.
At the six-week assessment only, a reactive transfer task will require participants to perform the drop vertical jump in response to a predetermined target color and withhold movement in response to other colors. Biomechanical measurements from this task will be compared with those from the standard task to examine the maintenance of movement strategies under additional cognitive demands.
Who may be able to participate?
The list below is the sponsor’s full registry wording. It can include conditions, prior treatment, test results and other requirements. A match in search does not mean you qualify.
Inclusion Criteria:
- Aged 16-35 years.
- Body mass index of 18.5-25 kg/m².
- Landing Error Scoring System (LESS) score of at least 6.
- A licensed basketball player at a club actively competing at the second-league level.
- At least three years of regular basketball playing and training experience.
- Participation in regular basketball training at least three days per week, with each session lasting at least one hour.
- A System Usability Scale (SUS) classification of A+ for the virtual reality system, corresponding to the 96th-100th percentile range.
- No trunk or lower-extremity injury within the previous six months.
- Willingness to provide written informed consent. For participants younger than 18 years, parental or legal guardian consent and participant assent will also be obtained.
Exclusion Criteria:
- More than two weeks away from sport due to a lower-extremity injury within the previous six months.
- A history of lower-extremity fracture, dislocation, or surgery resulting in functional limitations.
- A congenital or acquired musculoskeletal abnormality that may affect lower-extremity biomechanics.
- Inability to perform the study tasks safely because of a visual, auditory, vestibular, or neurological disorder.
- A history of migraine, epilepsy, severe motion sickness, or concussion within the previous six months.
- Participation in vestibular rehabilitation or a structured neuromuscular injury-prevention program within the previous six months.
- Cybersickness symptoms severe enough to prevent tolerance of the virtual reality intervention.
Treatment, groups and participation
The registry may describe treatments and study duration without a complete visit calendar. Ask the study team for the exact schedule, procedures, risks, costs and alternatives. Keep your usual care plan unless your treating clinician tells you otherwise.
- Assignment
- Random assignment
- Masking
- No masking
Control Group
Participants will continue their usual basketball team training for six weeks. No additional neuromuscular training or virtual reality-based optokinetic stimulation will be provided as part of the study.
Neuromuscular Training Group
Participants will continue their usual basketball team training and additionally receive supervised neuromuscular training three times per week for six weeks, totaling 18 sessions. Each session will last approximately 25-30 minutes and include progressively advanced strength, balance, proximal control, and plyometric exercises targeting jump-landing mechanics.
Behavioral: Neuromuscular Training
VR-Based Optokinetic Stimulation Group
Participants will continue their usual basketball team training and receive the same supervised neuromuscular training program as the active comparator group, three times per week for six weeks, totaling 18 sessions. Immediately before each neuromuscular training session, participants will receive virtual reality-based optokinetic stimulation. Visual stimulus speed, exposure duration, and postural difficulty will increase progressively over the six-week intervention.
Behavioral: Neuromuscular Training · Device: Virtual Reality-Based Optokinetic Stimulation
Neuromuscular Training BEHAVIORAL
Supervised neuromuscular training will be delivered three times per week for six weeks (18 sessions), in addition to usual basketball team training. Each session will last approximately 25-30 minutes and include strength, balance, proximal control, and plyometric exercises. Exercises will progress from bilateral squats, walking lunges, single-leg balance, and drop landings to single-leg squats, drop jumps, single-leg countermovement jumps, and single-leg standing long jumps. Exercises will be performed in 3-4 sets, with 60-90 seconds of rest between sets. Exercise difficulty and repetitions will progress according to the weekly protocol.
Virtual Reality-Based Optokinetic Stimulation DEVICE
Optokinetic stimulation will be delivered using a Meta Quest 3S headset and custom Unity software immediately before neuromuscular training, three times per week for six weeks. Participants will track moving balloons with their eyes while keeping their head and trunk as still as possible. Weekly progression will be: week 1, seated, 20 degrees/s, 3 x 30 s; week 2, standing with feet together, 20 degrees/s, 3 x 60 s; week 3, semi-tandem stance, 30 degrees/s, 3 x 90 s; week 4, tandem stance, 40 degrees/s, 3 x 120 s; week 5, tandem stance, 50 degrees/s, 3 x 150 s; week 6, tandem stance, 60 degrees/s, 3 x 180 s. Clockwise and counterclockwise motion will be presented for equal durations. Background rotation speed will be twice the balloon speed. Symptoms will be monitored using the Simulator Sickness Questionnaire, with exposure adjusted according to tolerance.
What researchers are measuring
Outcome measures describe what is being studied. They are not proof that a treatment works.
Primary measures
Change in Peak Knee Flexion Angle During Drop Vertical Jump Landing
Time frame: Baseline and immediately after the six-week intervention
Peak knee flexion angle of the dominant limb will be measured in degrees using the Xsens MVN Awinda inertial motion capture system during a standardized drop vertical jump from a 30-cm box. The peak angle will be identified during the landing deceleration phase, from initial ground contact to maximum knee flexion. Initial contact will be determined using synchronized force-platform data. The dominant limb will be defined as the preferred leg for kicking a ball. Three successful trials will be recorded at each assessment. Change from baseline to the end of the six-week intervention will be evaluated.
Secondary measures
Change in Peak Vertical Ground Reaction Force During Drop Vertical Jump Landing
Time frame: Baseline and immediately after the six-week intervention
Peak vertical ground reaction force will be measured using a Bertec force platform sampling at 1000 Hz during the standardized drop vertical jump. Initial contact will be defined as the first instant at which filtered vertical ground reaction force exceeds 10 N. Peak force will be identified as the maximum vertical ground reaction force within the first 0.20 seconds after initial contact and normalized to body weight, expressed in multiples of body weight. Three successful trials will be recorded at each assessment. Change from baseline to the end of the six-week intervention will be evaluated.
Change in Time to Peak Vertical Ground Reaction Force During Drop Vertical Jump Landing
Time frame: Baseline and immediately after the six-week intervention
The time interval between initial ground contact and peak vertical ground reaction force will be measured in seconds using a Bertec force platform sampling at 1000 Hz during the standardized drop vertical jump. Initial contact will be defined as the first instant at which filtered vertical ground reaction force exceeds 10 N. Peak vertical ground reaction force will be identified within the first 0.20 seconds after initial contact. Three successful trials will be recorded at each assessment. Change from baseline to the end of the six-week intervention will be evaluated.
Change in Landing Load Absorption Duration During Drop Vertical Jump Landing
Time frame: Baseline and immediately after the six-week intervention
Landing load absorption duration will be measured in seconds as the time interval between peak vertical ground reaction force and maximum knee flexion of the dominant limb during the standardized drop vertical jump. Peak vertical ground reaction force will be identified within the first 0.20 seconds after initial contact using a Bertec force platform. Maximum knee flexion will be identified using synchronized Xsens MVN Awinda motion capture data. The dominant limb will be defined as the preferred leg for kicking a ball. Three successful trials will be recorded at each assessment. Change from baseline to the end of the six-week intervention will be evaluated.
Change in Hip Flexion Range of Motion During Drop Vertical Jump Landing
Time frame: Baseline and immediately after the six-week intervention
Hip flexion range of motion will be measured in degrees using the Xsens MVN Awinda system, from initial ground contact to the instant of maximum dominant-knee flexion during the standardized drop vertical jump. Bilateral measurements will be calculated within the same analysis window.
Change in Knee Flexion Range of Motion During Drop Vertical Jump Landing
Time frame: Baseline and immediately after the six-week intervention
Knee flexion range of motion will be measured in degrees using the Xsens MVN Awinda system, from initial ground contact to the instant of maximum dominant-knee flexion during the standardized drop vertical jump. Bilateral measurements will be calculated within the same analysis window.
Change in Ankle Dorsiflexion Range of Motion During Drop Vertical Jump Landing
Time frame: Baseline and immediately after the six-week intervention
Ankle dorsiflexion range of motion will be measured in degrees using the Xsens MVN Awinda system, from initial ground contact to the instant of maximum dominant-knee flexion during the standardized drop vertical jump. Bilateral measurements will be calculated within the same analysis window.
Change in Time to Peak Knee Flexion During Drop Vertical Jump Landing
Time frame: Baseline and immediately after the six-week intervention
The interval from initial ground contact to maximum knee flexion of the dominant limb will be measured in seconds using synchronized Bertec force-platform and Xsens MVN Awinda data during the standardized drop vertical jump.
Change in Peak Knee Valgus Angle During Drop Vertical Jump Landing
Time frame: Baseline and immediately after the six-week intervention
Peak dominant-knee valgus angle will be measured in degrees using the Xsens MVN Awinda system during the interval from peak vertical ground reaction force to maximum dominant-knee flexion. Valgus will be defined as the maximum positive value of the dominant-knee abduction/adduction angle.
Change in Peak Resultant Tibial Acceleration During Drop Vertical Jump Landing
Time frame: Baseline and immediately after the six-week intervention
Peak resultant tibial acceleration will be calculated from the three-axis free-acceleration signals of the lower-leg sensors of the Xsens MVN Awinda system during landing load absorption, defined as the interval from peak vertical ground reaction force to maximum dominant-knee flexion. Acceleration will be expressed in meters per second squared.
Change in Romberg Sway Area Ratio
Time frame: Baseline and immediately after the six-week intervention
Visual dependence will be assessed using the ratio of eyes-closed to eyes-open center-of-pressure sway area measured with a Bertec force platform during tandem stance. Two 30-second trials will be performed under each condition. The ratio is dimensionless, with higher values indicating greater reliance on vision for postural control.
Change in Romberg Sway Velocity Ratio
Time frame: Baseline and immediately after the six-week intervention
Visual dependence will be assessed using the ratio of eyes-closed to eyes-open mean center-of-pressure velocity measured with a Bertec force platform during tandem stance. Two 30-second trials will be performed under each condition. The ratio is dimensionless, with higher values indicating greater reliance on vision for postural control.
Change in Center-of-Pressure Sway Area During Tandem Stance
Time frame: Baseline and immediately after the six-week intervention
Center-of-pressure sway area will be measured using a Bertec force platform during tandem stance with eyes open and eyes closed. Two 30-second trials will be performed under each condition. Results will be reported separately for each visual condition in square centimeters.
Change in Center-of-Pressure Total Path Length During Tandem Stance
Time frame: Baseline and immediately after the six-week intervention
Total center-of-pressure path length will be measured using a Bertec force platform during tandem stance with eyes open and eyes closed. Two 30-second trials will be performed under each condition. Results will be reported separately for each visual condition in centimeters.
Change in Mean Center-of-Pressure Velocity During Tandem Stance
Time frame: Baseline and immediately after the six-week intervention
Mean center-of-pressure velocity will be measured using a Bertec force platform during tandem stance with eyes open and eyes closed. Two 30-second trials will be performed under each condition. Results will be reported separately for each visual condition in centimeters per second.
Change in Peak Anterior-Posterior Center-of-Mass Velocity During Drop Vertical Jump Landing
Time frame: Baseline and immediately after the six-week intervention
Peak anterior-posterior center-of-mass velocity will be obtained from Xsens MVN Awinda data during landing load absorption, defined as the interval from peak vertical ground reaction force to maximum dominant-knee flexion. Velocity will be expressed in meters per second.
Change in Peak Medial-Lateral Center-of-Mass Velocity During Drop Vertical Jump Landing
Time frame: Baseline and immediately after the six-week intervention
Peak medial-lateral center-of-mass velocity will be obtained from Xsens MVN Awinda data during landing load absorption, defined as the interval from peak vertical ground reaction force to maximum dominant-knee flexion. Velocity will be expressed in meters per second.
Change in Peak Vertical Center-of-Mass Velocity During Drop Vertical Jump Landing
Time frame: Baseline and immediately after the six-week intervention
Peak vertical center-of-mass velocity will be obtained from Xsens MVN Awinda data during landing load absorption, defined as the interval from peak vertical ground reaction force to maximum dominant-knee flexion. Velocity will be expressed in meters per second.
Change in Peak Anterior-Posterior Center-of-Mass Acceleration During Drop Vertical Jump Landing
Time frame: Baseline and immediately after the six-week intervention
Peak anterior-posterior center-of-mass acceleration will be obtained from Xsens MVN Awinda data during landing load absorption, defined as the interval from peak vertical ground reaction force to maximum dominant-knee flexion. Acceleration will be expressed in meters per second squared.
Change in Peak Medial-Lateral Center-of-Mass Acceleration During Drop Vertical Jump Landing
Time frame: Baseline and immediately after the six-week intervention
Peak medial-lateral center-of-mass acceleration will be obtained from Xsens MVN Awinda data during landing load absorption, defined as the interval from peak vertical ground reaction force to maximum dominant-knee flexion. Acceleration will be expressed in meters per second squared.
Change in Peak Vertical Center-of-Mass Acceleration During Drop Vertical Jump Landing
Time frame: Baseline and immediately after the six-week intervention
Peak vertical center-of-mass acceleration will be obtained from Xsens MVN Awinda data during landing load absorption, defined as the interval from peak vertical ground reaction force to maximum dominant-knee flexion. Acceleration will be expressed in meters per second squared.
Change in Anterior-Posterior Center-of-Mass Displacement During Drop Vertical Jump Landing
Time frame: Baseline and immediately after the six-week intervention
Anterior-posterior center-of-mass displacement will be calculated from Xsens MVN Awinda position data during landing load absorption, defined as the interval from peak vertical ground reaction force to maximum dominant-knee flexion. Displacement will be expressed in meters.
Change in Medial-Lateral Center-of-Mass Displacement During Drop Vertical Jump Landing
Time frame: Baseline and immediately after the six-week intervention
Medial-lateral center-of-mass displacement will be calculated from Xsens MVN Awinda position data during landing load absorption, defined as the interval from peak vertical ground reaction force to maximum dominant-knee flexion. Displacement will be expressed in meters.
Change in Vertical Center-of-Mass Displacement During Drop Vertical Jump Landing
Time frame: Baseline and immediately after the six-week intervention
Vertical center-of-mass displacement will be calculated from Xsens MVN Awinda position data during landing load absorption, defined as the interval from peak vertical ground reaction force to maximum dominant-knee flexion. Displacement will be expressed in meters.
Peak Knee Flexion Angle During the Reactive Drop Vertical Jump Task
Time frame: Immediately after the six-week intervention
Peak dominant-knee flexion angle will be measured in degrees using the Xsens MVN Awinda system during a visually cued drop vertical jump. Participants will perform the task when a predetermined target color appears on the BlazePod system and withhold movement for other colors. Five successful trials will be recorded. Peak knee flexion will be identified during the landing deceleration phase, from initial ground contact to maximum dominant-knee flexion.
Review the complete result tables and limitations in the official record.
Open official results ↗Research locations (1)
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1 locations
Bahcesehir University, Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, Biomedical Engineering Motion Analysis LaboratoryIstanbul, Turkey (Türkiye)Recruiting
Study team and timeline
- Lead sponsor
- Bahçeşehir University
- Study start
- Nov 8, 2026 Actual
- Primary completion
- 2027-11 Estimated
- Study completion
- 2027-11 Estimated
- First posted
- Nov 5, 2026 Actual
- Last updated
- Nov 10, 2026 Actual
Official study contacts
Official study title
Comparison of the Effects of Optokinetic Stimulation Added to a Neuromuscular Training Program on Jump-Landing Biomechanics, Visual Dependence, and Reactive Transfer Performance
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Retrieved: Nov 12, 2026 · Last registry update: Nov 10, 2026