Supplementary VR batting training with slow-replay augmented feedback improves bat-ball contact precision

Fast interceptive sport actions may provide too little usable error information for performance refinement, because performance-critical events unfold too quickly to be inspected directly. We tested whether making such information visible through slow-replay augmented feedback, as part of supplementary VR batting training added to usual practice, would support improvement in bat-ball contact precision. Thirty-seven collegiate batters were randomly assigned to a Training or Control group. Over four weeks, both groups continued usual practice; the Training group also completed eight VR batting sessions with replay and a still image of the bat-ball relationship after each swing. Within the Training group, session-wise analyses showed reductions in contact error and spatial dispersion. In a varied-pitch evaluation, the Training group improved more than the Control group in contact accuracy. In a same-speed fastball evaluation that included both practiced and unpracticed locations, the Training group showed larger improvements in contact accuracy and spatial consistency. These findings suggest that this supplementary VR batting training with slow-replay augmented feedback may support refinement of bat-ball contact precision in skilled batters. They raise the possibility of a previously underexplored perceptual-cognitive aspect of skilled batting, namely, how error-relevant information from one swing is detected and used to refine the next.