Acute effects of prismatic adaptation on penalty kick accuracy and postural control in young soccer players: A pilot study

Valerio Giustino; Rosario Emanuele Bonaventura; Giuseppe Messina; Antonino Patti; Guglielmo Pillitteri; Simona Pajaujiene; Antonio Paoli; Antonio Palma; Antonino Bianco; Massimiliano Oliveri; Giuseppe Battaglia

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e30515

Acute effects of prismatic adaptation on penalty kick accuracy and postural control in young soccer players: A pilot study

Heliyon. 2024 Apr 30;10(9):e30515. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e30515. eCollection 2024 May 15.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Sport and Exercise Sciences Research Unit, Department of Psychology, Educational Science and Human Movement, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy.
² Department of Psychology, Educational Science and Human Movement, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy.
³ Department of Human Sciences and Promotion of the Quality of Life, San Raffaele University, Rome, Italy.
⁴ PLab Research Institute, Palermo, Italy.
⁵ Department of Coaching Science, Lithuanian Sports University, Kaunas, Lithuania.
⁶ Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Padova, Padova, Italy.
⁷ Regional Sports School of Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI) Sicilia, Palermo, Italy.
⁸ Department of Biomedicine, Neuroscience and Advanced Diagnostics, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy.

Abstract

Background: Prismatic adaptation (PA) is a visuomotor technique using prismatic glasses that are capable of moving the visual field and to affect the excitability of certain brain areas. The aim of this pilot study was to explore potential acute effects of PA on penalty kick accuracy and postural control in youth soccer players.

Methods: In this randomized crossover study, seven young male soccer players performed three PA sessions (rightward PA, r-PA; leftward PA, l-PA; sham PA, s-PA) with a washout period of 1-week between them. Immediately before and after each PA session, penalty kick accuracy and postural control were assessed.

Results: We detected an increase in penalty kick accuracy following PA, regardless of the deviation side of the prismatic glasses (F_1,5 = 52.15; p = 0.08; ηp² = 0.981). In detail, our results showed an increase in the penalty kick accuracy toward the right target of the football goal following r-PA and toward the left target of the football goal following l-PA. We detected a significant effect on the sway path length (F_2,12 = 10.42; p = 0.002; ηp² = 0.635) and the sway average speed (F_2,12 = 9.17; p = 0.004; ηp² = 0.605) parameters in the stabilometric test with open eyes following PA, regardless of the deviation side of the prismatic glasses. In detail, our results showed a significant difference in both the stabilometric parameters (p = 0.016 and p = 0.009, respectively) only following l-PA.

Conclusion: The findings of this pilot study indicate that PA could positively affect penalty kick accuracy and postural control suggesting that PA could be used as a visual training technique in athletes.

Keywords: Body posture; Kinematic; Prismatic adaptation; Sport neuroscience; Sport performance; Visual training; Visuomotor performance; Visuomotor procedure.