Effects of stroboscopic vision training on visuomotor reaction and soccer-specific reactive agility in male collegiate soccer players: a randomized controlled intervention study.

BACKGROUND: Soccer is an open-skill sport in which players must rapidly process visual cues and transform them into appropriate motor actions under changing contextual constraints. Stroboscopic vision training has been proposed as a method for enhancing visuomotor processing and sport-related performance, but its value as an embedded visual constraint within regular soccer-specific training remains unclear.

METHODS: This single-site, two-arm, parallel-group randomized controlled intervention study examined whether a 6-week stroboscopic vision training program combined with soccer-specific practice could improve visuomotor reaction performance and soccer-specific reactive agility in male collegiate soccer players. Thirty-six players were randomly assigned to either a stroboscopic training group or a non-stroboscopic group, with 18 participants in each group. Both groups completed the same soccer-specific training tasks three times per week. The stroboscopic training group wore Senaptec Strobe eyewear with the stroboscopic mode activated, whereas the non-stroboscopic group wore visually similar clear non-stroboscopic eyewear that did not produce visual occlusion or stroboscopic restriction. Outcome assessors were blinded to group allocation during pre- and post-intervention testing. Simple motor time, simple lower-limb visuomotor reaction time, complex reaction speed, with-ball reactive agility time, and without-ball reactive agility time were assessed before and after the intervention. Intervention effects were primarily evaluated using linear mixed-effects models with group, time, and group × time interaction as fixed effects and participant ID as a random intercept. Training experience and weekly training time were included as covariates. ANCOVA was also conducted as an adjusted analysis, with post-test values as dependent variables and corresponding pre-test values and training-related variables as covariates.

RESULTS: The linear mixed-effects models showed significant group × time interactions for all five outcomes, indicating greater pre-to-post improvements in the stroboscopic training group than in the non-stroboscopic group. Compared with the non-stroboscopic group, the stroboscopic training group showed larger reductions in simple motor time, simple lower-limb visuomotor reaction time, complex reaction speed, with-ball reactive agility time, and without-ball reactive agility time. The ANCOVA results were consistent with the primary analysis, showing significantly lower adjusted post-intervention values in the stroboscopic training group across all outcomes after controlling for baseline performance, training experience, and weekly training time. These findings suggest that adding stroboscopic vision training to soccer-specific practice may provide additional short-term benefits in visuomotor reaction efficiency and soccer-specific reactive agility.

CONCLUSIONS: Compared with the same soccer-specific training performed with visually similar clear non-stroboscopic eyewear, adding stroboscopic vision training may further improve visuomotor reaction efficiency and soccer-specific reactive agility in male collegiate soccer players. This approach may be used as an auxiliary strategy for developing soccer-specific reactive ability, although further studies are required to determine whether these gains are retained over time and transferred to match play.