Evaluating the Impact of VR Training on Perceptual-Cognitive Skills in Elite Youth Football: Insights into Transfer and Performance

Evaluating the Impact of VR Training on Perceptual-Cognitive Skills in Elite Youth Football: Insights into Transfer and Performance | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Evaluating the Impact of VR Training on Perceptual-Cognitive Skills in Elite Youth Football: Insights into Transfer and Performance Mathis Tiercery, Christopher Carling, Thomas Pavillon, Benoit Bideau, and 1 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7169491/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 19 Mar, 2026 Read the published version in Virtual Reality → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Players’ perceptual-cognitive skills and exploratory activity are essential components of soccer performance. This preliminary study explored the impact of Virtual Reality (VR) training on perceptual-cognitive skills and its potential transferability to game performance in elite youth football players. Sixteen players (Age = 13, SD = 0.3) from an elite youth soccer academy participated: control group = 8 and intervention group = 8. The effectiveness of a short VR training program delivered over four weekly sessions of 20 minutes on scanning and passing skills during a small-sided game was assessed. No significant difference was observed between groups for the pre- vs post assessment of the frequency of scanning movements (F = 2.56, p = 0.132, \(\:{\eta\:}^{2}\) =0.155) although a 49% improvement occurred in the intervention group following the virtual reality training (controls=-2% decrease). Passing accuracy was unchanged (p = 0.882) across evaluations in the VR-trained group versus the control group following the VR intervention. While no statistically significant difference was observed following the intervention, the frequency of scanning actions approximately doubled, coupled with a large effect size. This may suggest a positive trend towards the transfer of perceptual-cognitive skills to real-world game performance and that VR training has potential to enhance these crucial skills in young footballers although additional research is merited. perceptual-cognitive virtual reality transferability soccer Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 19 Mar, 2026 Read the published version in Virtual Reality → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7169491","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":496484367,"identity":"7e26316d-dded-4fd1-9e7c-4675150fd383","order_by":0,"name":"Mathis Tiercery","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA1ElEQVRIiWNgGAWjYFACxgYIzQ6iDSyI0MEG08JzAKRFghgtMIZEApgkrEN3fnPj44oam3yDm8+vbvhRIMHA396dgFeL2THGZsMzx9IsN9zOKbvZA3SYxJmzGwhpaZNsbDhsYHA7J+0GD1CLgUQuQS3tPxsb/hsY3DyTdvMPkVraGBsbDhgY3GA/dptIWxKbJRuOJRtInslhuy1jIMFD2C+Hjz/82FBjZ8B3/Pizm2/+2Mjxt/fi1wIHCgd4DEA0D3HKQUC+gf0B8apHwSgYBaNgRAEApkJK/GIvd/IAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"","institution":"French Football Federation","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Mathis","middleName":"","lastName":"Tiercery","suffix":""},{"id":496484368,"identity":"6de1b375-0d27-47d8-b4d8-aca0d073f501","order_by":1,"name":"Christopher Carling","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"French Football Federation","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Christopher","middleName":"","lastName":"Carling","suffix":""},{"id":496484369,"identity":"d228e24b-f29f-4fcc-a457-a5bc3b35e742","order_by":2,"name":"Thomas Pavillon","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"French Football Federation","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Thomas","middleName":"","lastName":"Pavillon","suffix":""},{"id":496484370,"identity":"85a1afed-28f6-418d-8489-e25a33a1db73","order_by":3,"name":"Benoit Bideau","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Univ Rennes","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Benoit","middleName":"","lastName":"Bideau","suffix":""},{"id":496484371,"identity":"62c32965-bc2b-4267-bdf7-9dea68bc9c4a","order_by":4,"name":"Anthony Sorel","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Univ Rennes","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Anthony","middleName":"","lastName":"Sorel","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-07-20 11:53:23","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7169491/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7169491/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[{"content":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10055-026-01357-8","type":"published","date":"2026-03-19T15:58:27+00:00"}],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":105224483,"identity":"819f3334-fe5d-49fa-ab1e-2e50145c0f49","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-03-23 16:14:34","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":693236,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"ArticleMathisTIERCERYVR.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7169491/v1_covered_ff8c7382-795e-4aba-b566-bb19a175e365.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Evaluating the Impact of VR Training on Perceptual-Cognitive Skills in Elite Youth Football: Insights into Transfer and Performance","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"perceptual-cognitive, virtual reality, transferability, soccer","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7169491/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7169491/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003ePlayers\u0026rsquo; perceptual-cognitive skills and exploratory activity are essential components of soccer performance. This preliminary study explored the impact of Virtual Reality (VR) training on perceptual-cognitive skills and its potential transferability to game performance in elite youth football players. Sixteen players (Age\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;13, SD\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.3) from an elite youth soccer academy participated: control group\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;8 and intervention group\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;8. The effectiveness of a short VR training program delivered over four weekly sessions of 20 minutes on scanning and passing skills during a small-sided game was assessed. No significant difference was observed between groups for the pre- vs post assessment of the frequency of scanning movements (F\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;2.56, p\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.132, \u003cspan class=\"InlineEquation\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"mathinline\"\u003e\\(\\:{\\eta\\:}^{2}\\)\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e=0.155) although a 49% improvement occurred in the intervention group following the virtual reality training (controls=-2% decrease). Passing accuracy was unchanged (p\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.882) across evaluations in the VR-trained group versus the control group following the VR intervention. While no statistically significant difference was observed following the intervention, the frequency of scanning actions approximately doubled, coupled with a large effect size. This may suggest a positive trend towards the transfer of perceptual-cognitive skills to real-world game performance and that VR training has potential to enhance these crucial skills in young footballers although additional research is merited.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Evaluating the Impact of VR Training on Perceptual-Cognitive Skills in Elite Youth Football: Insights into Transfer and Performance","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-08-07 19:04:59","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7169491/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"19f4f3ca-36d6-492e-bd60-0d846f96526d","owner":[],"postedDate":"August 7th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-03-23T16:10:52+00:00","versionOfRecord":{"articleIdentity":"rs-7169491","link":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10055-026-01357-8","journal":{"identity":"virtual-reality","isVorOnly":false,"title":"Virtual Reality"},"publishedOn":"2026-03-19 15:58:27","publishedOnDateReadable":"March 19th, 2026"},"versionCreatedAt":"2025-08-07 19:04:59","video":"","vorDoi":"10.1007/s10055-026-01357-8","vorDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10055-026-01357-8","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-7169491","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-7169491","identity":"rs-7169491","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}