Effect of four weeks of ocular-motor exercises on dynamic visual acuity and stability limit of female basketball players

Introduction: Visual skills are an integral part of most daily activities and an effective indicator of the functional ability of athletes, particularly in the fields of dynamic sports like basketball. Despite the important role of vision and effect of ocular exercises on functional skills in athletes, a few studies have been conducted in this regard. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the effect of ocular-motor exercises on dynamic visual acuity and stability limit of female basketball players. Methods: In this semi-experimental study 30 club elite female basketball players aged between 18 and 24 years, with at least three years of specialized basketball experience, were randomly assigned to two intervention and control groups. The athletes in the intervention group participated in the designed four-week program (six sessions per week) of the oculo_motor exercises. The control group did just their own daily routine exercises. The limit of stability was measured by the Biodex balance system SD and dynamic visual acuity was measured by the PowerPoint, which is for detecting dynamic visual acuity. Also, the SPSS software version 19 was used to analyze the data by using descriptive statistics methods: independent t and Paired t tests, at a significance level of P <= 0.05. Results: The results showed that doing four weeks of the oculo_motor exercises led to a significant increase in the overall stability index (OSI) from 28/66 +/- 7/23 to 51/60 +/- 6/38 (p = 0.001), as well as in dynamic visual acuity from 29/73 +/- 4/19 to 56/20 +/- 8/81(p < 0.001); in the intervention group, these changes were also statistically significant in comparison with the control group and before doing the exercise protocol (p < 0.05). Conclusion: According to the obtained results, the oculo_motor exercises can be used to enhance the limit of stability and dynamic visual acuity in basketball players and other dynamic sports.