ABSTRACT
The purpose of the research was to identify the impact of peripheral (unilateral and bilateral) vision on manual reaction time to visual stimuli in handball, basketball and volleyball players by implementing a 6-week experimental program of specific exercises and some adapted tests using Fitlight technology. The research included 412 players (212 male-51.5%; 200 female-48.5%) from three team sports: basketball-146 (35.4%), handball-140 (40%) and volleyball-126 (30.6%). The experimental program carried out over 6 weeks was identical for all handball, basketball and volleyball players participating in the study; two training sessions per week were performed, with each session lasting 30 min; 15 exercises were used for the improvement of manual reaction time to visual stimuli involving peripheral vision. Through the Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), we identified statistically significant differences between the arithmetic means of the samples of handball, basketball and volleyball players, as well as according to general samples also of gender (male and female), p = 0.000. Male and female handball samples achieved the greatest progress in manual reaction time to visual stimuli involving peripheral vision for the Reaction time test with a unilateral right visual stimulus (30 s) and the Reaction time test with a unilateral left visual stimulus (30 s), while general sample also of male and female basketball samples, for the Reaction time test with bilateral visual stimuli (30 s) and the Reaction time test with six Fitlights (1 min); male and female volleyball samples recorded the lowest progress in all tests compared to handball and basketball groups. According to our results, female samples made greater progress in reaction time than male groups for all four tests of the present study. The implemented experimental program led to an improvement in manual reaction time to visual stimuli due to the use of Fitlight technology and the involvement of peripheral vision for all research samples.
ABSTRACT
The main aim of the present study was to implement an exergame program that uses Fitlight technology to identify the impact on motor, recognition, and cognitive reaction times in junior athletes practicing team sports: basketball, handball, and volleyball. The second aim was to identifying differences in progress of the three types of reaction time between female and male players through computerized tests. The study included 360 subjects for basketball, 130 athletes of which were 68 male subjects and 62 female subjects; for handball, 124 athletes of which 64 were male subjects and 60 female athletes; for volleyball, 106 athletes of which 48 male were subjects and 48 female athletes. Characteristics of the experimental players: average age ± SD 13.60 ± 1.07; average sports experience ± SD 6.24 ± 0.92. The research included an initial and a final test between which a program of exergames was implemented over a period of 3 months focused on optimizing human reaction times. The evaluation of the reaction times was carried out through three computer games, the results being processed in SPSS 22. The relevant results of the research: for the simple motor reaction time (MSRT), the greatest progress between tests was the volleyball group, and for women, it was the basketball group; for the recognition reaction time (RRT), the male handball group and the female basketball group recorded the greatest progress; for the cognitive reactive time (CRT), the greatest progress was achieved by the male and female volleyball players. In all tests, the progress of the female basketball, handball, and volleyball players showed superior progress to similar male players. The results of the research highlighted the effectiveness of the experimental exergame program by using Fitlight technology in optimizing human reaction times in junior team-game athletes. Using computer games to evaluate reaction times allowed us to differentiate the evaluation on the types of human reactions under both standardized conditions but also under conditions of efficiency and attractiveness.
