Comparison of Post-Landing Stability During Basketball Jump Shots Under Real and Virtual Defensive Pressure

Area of Science:

• Sports Biomechanics
• Motor Control
• Virtual Reality Applications

Background:

• Defensive pressure significantly impacts basketball jump shot execution and landing stability.
• Understanding the biomechanical effects of defensive pressure is crucial for performance enhancement and injury prevention.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate post-landing stability during basketball jump shots under virtual reality (VR) defense, real defense, and no-defense conditions.
• To compare the biomechanical responses to VR defense versus real defense in jump shot landings.

Main Methods:

• Nineteen basketball players performed jump shots under three defensive conditions: VR defense, real defense, and no defense.
• Ground reaction forces were recorded using a force plate to analyze time to stabilization (TTS), center of pressure (COP) path length, and jump height.

Main Results:

• Defensive cues, including VR, led to shorter time to stabilization compared to no defense.
• Jump height was significantly lower in the VR defense condition than in real defense and no-defense conditions.
• Center of pressure path length did not significantly differ across conditions.

Conclusions:

• VR-based defensive stimuli can modify movement execution and landing responses in basketball jump shots.
• VR defense does not fully replicate the biomechanical demands of real defensive interactions, representing a distinct sensorimotor context.
• Findings from VR assessments of landing stability should be interpreted cautiously and not as direct equivalents of real-world performance.