The effects of short-term visual feedback training on the stability of the roundhouse kicking technique in young karatekas

The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of using real-time visual feedback (VF)during a one-week balance training intervention on postural sway parameters in young karatekas.Twenty-six young male karatekas (age = 14.0±2.3 years) were randomly divided into two groups:real-time VF training (VFT;n= 14) and control (CTRL;n= 12). Their center of pressure (COP)displacement (path length, COPpl; distance from origin, COPod) was assessed pre- and post-trainingon a Wii Balance Board platform in two positions (Flex: knee of the supporting leg slightly bent,maximum hip and leg flexion of the other leg; Kick: knee of the supporting leg slightly bent, mawashi-geri posture for the kicking leg). Both groups trained twice a day for seven days, performing aone-legged stance on the non-dominant limb in the Kick position. During the training, VFT receivedreal-time VF of COP displacement, while CTRL looked at a fixed point. No interaction effect wasfound (p> 0.05). VFT exhibited greater changes pre- and post-training in Flex COPpl (−25.2%,g= 1.5),Kick COPpl (−24.1%,g= 1.3), and Kick COPod (−44.1%,g= 1.0) compared to CTRL (−0.9–−13.0%,g-range: 0.1–0.7). It is possible that superimposing real-time VF to a week-long balance trainingintervention could induce a greater sport-specific balance-training effect in young karatekas.