Neural Mobilization After Upper Extremity Fatigue in Amateur Athletes

June 27, 2026 updated by: Selim Mahmut GÜNAY, Uludag University

Acute Effects of Neural Mobilization After Physical Fatigue on Upper Extremity Performance and Hand-Eye Coordination in Amateur Athletes: A Randomized Controlled Trial

This randomized controlled trial evaluated the acute effects of neural mobilization and dynamic stretching after upper extremity fatigue on upper extremity performance and hand-eye coordination in amateur athletes. Participants were amateur athletes aged 18 to 25 years who regularly participated in sports involving active use of the upper extremity. After baseline assessment, all participants completed a standardized upper extremity fatigue protocol. They were then randomly allocated to one of three groups: neural mobilization, dynamic stretching, or passive rest. Outcomes were assessed at baseline, immediately after fatigue, and after the assigned recovery intervention or rest period. The study aimed to determine whether active recovery strategies, particularly neural mobilization, provide greater short-term recovery of upper extremity performance and hand-eye coordination compared with passive rest.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
45

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Turkey (Türkiye)
    • Antakya
      • Hatay, Antakya, Turkey (Türkiye)
        • Hatay Mustafa Kemal University

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Aged between 18 and 25 years
  • Amateur athlete participating in a sport requiring active use of the upper extremity, such as basketball, volleyball, tennis, or table tennis
  • Able to understand and perform the fatigue protocol, recovery intervention, and outcome assessments
  • Volunteered to participate and provided written informed consent

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Current upper extremity, cervical, or trunk pain or injury that could affect test performance
  • History of upper extremity surgery, fracture, or major musculoskeletal trauma that could limit participation
  • Neurological, vestibular, or systemic condition affecting upper extremity function, balance, coordination, or exercise tolerance
  • Any cardiovascular, respiratory, or medical condition contraindicating participation in fatiguing upper extremity exercise
  • Inability to complete the fatigue protocol or outcome assessments safely

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Other
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: Neural Mobilization
Participants assigned to this arm received upper extremity neural mobilization after completion of the standardized upper extremity fatigue protocol. Neural mobilization techniques targeted the median, radial, and ulnar nerves and were applied during the recovery period before post-intervention outcome assessment.
Other: Neural Mobilization
Upper extremity neural mobilization was applied after the standardized fatigue protocol. The intervention targeted the median, radial, and ulnar nerves using non-painful mobilization techniques. Each technique was performed for 2 sets of 20 repetitions, with each repetition lasting approximately 1 to 3 seconds
Experimental: Dynamic Stretching
Participants assigned to this arm performed a structured dynamic stretching protocol after completion of the standardized upper extremity fatigue protocol. The protocol included dynamic upper and lower body movements performed during the recovery period before post-intervention outcome assessment.
Other: Dynamic Stretching
A structured dynamic stretching protocol was performed after the standardized fatigue protocol. The protocol lasted approximately 10 minutes and included dynamic upper extremity and whole-body movements such as arm swings, arm crossovers, walking lunges with trunk rotation, lateral shuffling, heel kicks, inchworms, and modified shuttle movements.
No Intervention: Control
Participants assigned to this control arm rested passively after completion of the standardized upper extremity fatigue protocol. No active recovery intervention was administered during the recovery period before post-intervention outcome assessment.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Alternate Hand Wall Toss Test
Time Frame: Baseline, immediately after the fatigue protocol, and after the 15-minute recovery period
Hand-eye coordination was assessed using the Alternate Hand Wall Toss Test. Participants stood 2 meters from a wall and repeatedly threw a ball against the wall, catching it with the opposite hand. The number of successful catches completed within 30 seconds was recorded. Higher scores indicate better hand-eye coordination performance.
Baseline, immediately after the fatigue protocol, and after the 15-minute recovery period
Upper Quarter Y Balance Test
Time Frame: Baseline, immediately after the fatigue protocol, and after the 15-minute recovery period
Upper quarter dynamic balance was assessed using the Upper Quarter Y Balance Test. Participants maintained a push-up position and reached with the free hand in the medial, superolateral, and inferolateral directions. Reach distances were recorded and used to calculate a composite score normalized to upper limb length. Higher scores indicate better upper quarter dynamic balance performance.
Baseline, immediately after the fatigue protocol, and after the 15-minute recovery period

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Closed Kinetic Chain Upper Extremity Stability Test
Time Frame: Baseline, immediately after the fatigue protocol, and after the 15-minute recovery period
Upper extremity functional performance was assessed using the Closed Kinetic Chain Upper Extremity Stability Test. Participants performed alternating hand touches across two marked lines while maintaining a push-up position. The number of touches completed within 15 seconds was recorded. Higher scores indicate better upper extremity functional performance.
Baseline, immediately after the fatigue protocol, and after the 15-minute recovery period

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Uludag University

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
December 19, 2025

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
May 28, 2026

Study Completion (Actual)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
May 29, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
June 27, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
June 27, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
July 2, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
July 2, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
June 27, 2026

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
June 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • 2025/16-42

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

IPD Plan Description

Individual participant data will not be publicly shared because explicit consent for external data sharing was not obtained from participants.

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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