Stroboscopic Vision Decreases Performance on the Y-Balance Test in Youth Athletes

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate if stroboscopic vision significantly affected dynamic balance performance on the Y-Balance Test Lower Quarter (YBT-LQ) in athletes aged 12 to 18 years. DESIGN: Single-group pretest, posttest quasi-experimental study METHODS: Two hundred seventy-two participants aged 12 to 18 years, who participated in a school- or club-sponsored sport, performed the YBT-LQ without and with stroboscopic vision. Reach distances were recorded for each participant with and without stroboscopic vision. Main effects were analyzed to interpret the effect of stroboscopic vision on YBT-LQ performance, and secondary effects were analyzed to interpret the effect on individual reach directions and composite scores. RESULTS: There were significant main effects between YBT-LQ scores with and without stroboscopic vision ( P≤.001). Post hoc analyses identified a significant decrease in performance when participants performed the YBT-LQ with stroboscopic vision compared to the YBT-LQ under standard conditions in each reach direction, for left and right lower extremities. There was a significant decrease in composite scores when controlling for leg length of the participants. CONCLUSION: Performance of the YBT-LQ decreases when youth athletes’ vision is perturbed with stroboscopic vision. JOSPT Open 2025;3(1):30-34. Epub 5 November 2024. doi:10.2519/josptopen.2024.1243