Adapted training to boost upper body sensorimotor control in visually impaired competitive baseball players

Purpose: Visual disability affects sensorimotor control, body kinematics, core recruitment, as well as global and segmental coordination deeply impairing subject daily and athletic functionality. In particular, head–trunk–hip isolation deficits lead to upper body stiffness and force transfer deficiencies along the kinetic chain. Since such motor skill is crucial to baseball pitching gesture, here we investigated, for the first time, the underlying anatomo-functional prerequisites in order to design an adapted training intervention to improve athletic performance while contemporarily prevent injuries and increase daily life functionality of an Italian blind baseball team. Methods: Assessments were conducted on the whole team during the pre-season phase of a regular competitive season applying traditional tools (i.e., head, trunk, and upper limb goniometric active range of motion, as well as core endurance/stability and posterior/anterior muscle chain flexibility tests) and an innovative biofeedback-based device (i.e. Libra sensorized proprioceptive board). On outcome basis, an adapted training protocol, mostly focused on proprioceptive motor control, was designed and leaded to boost pitching gesture prerequisites and upper body coordination, hence avoiding overuse syndromes onset and counteracting disability-related sensorimotor alterations. Results: Quantitative assessments detected a statistically significant improvement in all the investigated parameters and, in particular, an enhancement of global and segmental stability, upper body mobility and coordination, and proprioceptive postural control. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that a tailored sensorimotor intervention, conceived and leaded by an adapted physical activity kinesiologist, may provide effective and safe methodological hints to evaluate and train visually impaired baseball players and, consequently, improve their athletic performance and daily life selfefficacy and autonomy.