Athlete perceptions of in-person training, extended reality and video technologies for perceptual-cognitive development: A qualitative exploration of developmental American football quarterbacks’ perspectives

Advancements in technologies such as 360°video and virtual reality (VR) open new possibilities for how athletes can train their perceptual-cognitive skills. However, few studies have explored the athletes’ perception of these different training approaches qualitatively. Therefore, this study engaged three quarterbacks (QBs) from an Australian American football team in four different sport-specific training approaches (on-field, 360°video, VR, traditional video) and explored their thoughts and preferences in relation to how each could help develop their perceptual-cognitive skills. The developmental QBs participated in semi-structured interviews after each of the training approaches. Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis was used to explore participants’ unique experiences of each approach. Two primary themes were identified, along with secondary themes: ‘Opportunities for training perceptual-cognitive skills’ (sub-themes: Making the best decision; Where to look; Awareness and reflection), and ‘Factors influencing perceptual-cognitive skill development’ (sub-themes: Control of movements; Realism). All participants ranked on-field training as their preferred approach, with two participants then ranking the technologies as 360°video > VR > traditional video, and one participant ordering them VR > traditional video>360°video. The findings can be contextualised through an ecological dynamics framework; specifically, the first theme in relation to affordances for action, while the second theme relates to perception-action coupling and representative learning design. Overall, the study provides unique individual insights on QBs’ perceptions and preferences towards technologies such as 360°video and VR and how they may be utilised to develop perceptual-cognitive skills. Future research should look to build on these findings by examining whether the positive perceptions transfer to actual performance improvements in a longitudinal intervention design.