Investigation of the Effect of Virtual Reality Assisted Exercise Program on Physical Parameters in Hockey Players (VRHOCKEY)

January 30, 2026 updated by: Ertugrul Deniz Kose, Hitit University

Investigation of the Effect of Virtual Reality Assisted Exercise Program on Physical Parameters in Hockey Players: Single Blinded Randomize Controlled Trial

This single-blind randomized controlled trial investigates the effects of a virtual reality-assisted exercise program added to routine hockey training on balance, functional ankle dorsiflexion, agility, and shooting performance in youth hockey players. Participants are randomly assigned to either routine training alone or routine training plus a 6-week virtual reality-assisted exercise intervention delivered via the Nintendo Wii Balance Board. Outcomes are assessed at baseline, post-intervention, and at 3-week follow-up by a blinded assessor.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

This study is designed as a single-blind randomized controlled trial to evaluate the effects of a virtual reality-assisted exercise program on balance, functional ankle dorsiflexion, agility, and shooting performance in youth hockey players. Participants are recruited from a competitive hockey team and randomly assigned to either a control group or an intervention group.

The control group continues routine hockey training, including warm-up exercises, passing drills, offense-defense organization, and penalty-corner practices, three days per week. The intervention group continues the same routine training and additionally participates in a virtual reality-assisted exercise program delivered via the Nintendo Wii Balance Board. The virtual reality intervention includes Obstacle Course, Ski Slalom, and NFL Slapshot games and is administered for 30 minutes per session, three sessions per week, over a 6-week period.

Outcome measures include dynamic balance assessed by the Y Balance Test, agility assessed by the T-run agility test, functional ankle dorsiflexion assessed by the weight-bearing lunge test, and shooting performance assessed using a standardized target-based shooting accuracy protocol. All outcomes are assessed at baseline, immediately after the 6-week intervention period, and at a 3-week follow-up. Outcome assessments are performed by a physiotherapist who is blinded to group allocation.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

30

Phase

  • 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)
    • Merkez
      • Amasya, Merkez, Turkey (Türkiye), 05100
        • Amasya 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

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child
  • Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Youth hockey players affiliated with a competitive hockey team
  • Aged between 16 and 25 years
  • Regular participation in routine hockey training
  • Voluntary participation with written informed consent

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Presence of an injury preventing participation in routine hockey training
  • Presence of visual or neurological conditions that may interfere with virtual reality-assisted exercises
  • Failure to attend the virtual reality-assisted exercise program for more than two consecutive sessions

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: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
No Intervention: Routine Hockey Training (Control)
Participants continue routine hockey training (warm-up, passing drills, offense-defense organization, penalty-corner practices) 3 days/week.
Experimental: Routine Training + VR-Assisted Exercise
Participants continue routine hockey training and additionally perform virtual reality-assisted exercises using the Nintendo Wii Balance Board, 30 minutes/session, 3 sessions/week, for 6 weeks.
Device: Nintendo Wii Balance Board Exergaming
Obstacle Course, Ski Slalom, and NFL Slapshot; 30 minutes/session; 3 sessions/week; 6 weeks.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Shooting Performance
Time Frame: Baseline, immediately post-intervention (6 weeks), and 3-week follow-up
Shooting performance is assessed using a standardized target-based shooting accuracy protocol. Participants perform drag-flick shots toward predefined target zones, and total hit scores are recorded. Higher scores indicate better shooting accuracy.
Baseline, immediately post-intervention (6 weeks), and 3-week follow-up

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Dynamic Balance (Y Balance Test)
Time Frame: Baseline, post-intervention (6 weeks), and 3-week follow-up
Dynamic balance is evaluated using the Y Balance Test. Normalized reach distances are recorded for each limb.
Baseline, post-intervention (6 weeks), and 3-week follow-up
Functional Ankle Dorsiflexion (Weight-Bearing Lunge Test)
Time Frame: Baseline, post-intervention (6 weeks), and 3-week follow-up
Functional ankle dorsiflexion is assessed using the weight-bearing lunge test, with dorsiflexion angle measured for both ankles.
Baseline, post-intervention (6 weeks), and 3-week follow-up
Agility (T-run Agility Test)
Time Frame: Baseline, post-intervention (6 weeks), and 3-week follow-up
Agility is assessed using the T-run agility test, with performance recorded as completion time in seconds.
Baseline, post-intervention (6 weeks), and 3-week follow-up

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Hitit University

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Ertuğrul Deniz KÖSE, Ph.D, Amasya 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

  • Polikanova I, et al. Virtual reality training improves balance and agility in athletes. Journal of Sports Sciences. 2021;39(4):456-464. Laufer Y, et al. The effect of virtual reality-based training on postural control. Gait & Posture. 2014;40(2):285-291. Schmitt KU, et al. Balance and sensorimotor training in sports performance. Sports Medicine. 2019;49(3):421-435.

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)

January 1, 2020

Primary Completion (Actual)

December 31, 2023

Study Completion (Actual)

November 30, 2025

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

January 23, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 23, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

January 30, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

February 3, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 30, 2026

Last Verified

January 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Other Study ID Numbers

  • Amasya Uni-E.10568

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

YES

IPD Plan Description

De-identified individual participant data underlying the results reported in this study will be available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request, following publication. Requests will be reviewed to ensure appropriate use and compliance with ethical approvals.

IPD Sharing Time Frame

From publication

IPD Sharing Access Criteria

Access to the de-identified individual participant data will be granted to qualified researchers upon reasonable request, subject to approval by the corresponding author and in compliance with ethical approvals.

IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type

  • STUDY_PROTOCOL
  • SAP
  • ICF
  • ANALYTIC_CODE
  • CSR

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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