Exploring the Knowledge, Thoughts, and Experiences of Virtual Reality Training in Elite Football and Baseball.

Abstract Despite the perceived benefits of implementing virtual reality (VR) training in elite sport (Gray, 2019), arguably the most important element – the thoughts, knowledge, and experiences of practitioners – has been largely understudied. Therefore, the present study aimed to explore practitioners’ knowledge of VR, current and past usage, important factors for implementation, and perceived obstacles in elite football and baseball via an online questionnaire. Football respondents (n = 25) represented practitioners from major football leagues across the world, and baseball respondents (n = 15) represented practitioners from Major League Baseball. Both football and baseball respondents reported that the most important factor for implementation of VR training was improvement in on-field performance, whether this be mental, tactical, or technical. Furthermore, both football and baseball respondents highlighted cost as the biggest obstacle at their current club. Notably, Mann-Whitney U tests revealed that football respondents perceived coach (p = .02) and executive approval (p < .001) as significantly greater obstacles than baseball respondents. Regression analyses showed that a lack of executive approval was best predicted by the obstacle of cost (p = .02), whereas a lack of coach approval was best predicted by general negative perceptions of VR (p < .01). Mann Whitney U tests also revealed that football respondents had a significantly higher mean rating for obstacles (p < .01) and significantly lower perceived knowledge of sport-specific VR than the baseball respondents (p < .001). These findings have considerable implications with regard to the potential application of VR training in football and baseball.