EFFECT OF PERCEPTUAL COGNITIVE TRAINING USING VIRTUAL REALITY GAME THERAPY ON PERFORMANCE IN COLLEGIATE FIELD HOCKEY PLAYERS

The objective of the study is to see the effect of perceptual cognitive training on performance in collegiate field hockey players. The primary objectives are Change of direction ofspeed (CODS) and Ball control ability and secondaryobjectives are  Agility and  Repeat sprint ability. The need of the study is to explore the degree of transferability of such training effects in relation toperformance outcome in collegiate field hockey players. It is hypothesized that VRGT may be beneficialin collegiate field hockeyplayers and will help the players in improving their performance in terms ofchange of speed (CODS), ball control ability, agility and repeat sprint ability. 40 collegiate field hockey players will be recruited andallocated into 2 groups, experimental and control group, through simple randomsampling. Experimental group will receive virtual reality game therapy (VRGT) usingMicrosoft Kinect Xbox 360 along with standard training protocol followed by theplayers. Duration of the intervention will be 5 sessions of VRGT per week for six weeks.A demonstration of the gaming activity and 2-3 practice trial sessions will begiven to every subject before start of first session. The session will include atotal of 2 gaming activities, Kinect Sports® (Sprint and Super saver). Eachactivity will be performed for 15 minutes with a rest period of 2-3 minutesbetween each activity for a total duration of 30 minutes. Control group will receivestandard training protocol only for 5 sessions per week for six weeks. Standardtraining protocol will include 10 minutes warmup, team stretch, dribbling,shooting and other basic practice drills followed by 10 minutes cool down.Standard training protocol will also be given for 30 minutes.