The effects of sport-specific training on individuals action strategies while avoiding a virtual player approaching on a 45° angle while completing a secondary task

Sports provide varying scenarios where athletes must interact with and avoid opposing players in dynamic environments. As such, sport-specific training can improve one's ability to integrate visual information which may result in improved collision avoidance behaviours. However, improved visuomotor capabilities are highly task dependent (i.e., athletes must be tested in sport-specific settings). The current study examined whether sport-specific training influenced individuals' collision avoidance behaviours during a sport-specific task in virtual reality. Untrained young adults (N = 21, 22.9±1.9 yrs, 11 males) and specifically trained athletes (N = 18, 20±1.5 yrs, 7 males) were immersed in a virtual environment and were instructed to walk along a 7.5m path towards a goal located along the midline. Two virtual players positioned 2.83m to the left and right of the midline approached participants on a 45° angle at one of three speeds: 0.8x, 1.0x, or 1.2x each participant's average walking speed. Participants were instructed to walk to a goal without colliding with the virtual players while performing a secondary task; reporting whether a shape changed above either of the virtual players' heads. Results revealed that athletes had a higher percentage of correct responses on the secondary task compared to untrained young adults. However, there was no group differences in the average time to first avoidance or average minimum clearance, but athletes were more variable in their avoidance behaviours. Findings from this study demonstrate that athletes may be more adaptive in their behaviours and may perform better on attentionally demanding tasks in dynamic environments.