Lateral Dominance and Cognitive–Motor Performance in Elite Athletes: A Virtual Reality Study

Abstract

Virtual Reality (VR) is increasingly employed in sports science as it enables ecological and standardized assessments of cognitive–motor skills in immersive, controllable environments. This study examined the influence of lateral dominance on response time (RT) in elite athletes from two situational sports: volleyball (predominantly symmetrical motor demands) and fencing (asymmetrical motor demands). A secondary objective was to explore the relationship between dynamic visual attention and RT. Eighty-five elite athletes (41 volleyball players, 44 fencers) completed VR-based assessments of RT and dynamic visual attention. A mixed-design ANOVA showed significantly faster RT with the dominant hand across both groups (Volleyball: dominant 467.4 ± 60.1 ms vs non-dominant 485.2 ± 68.5 ms, p < 0.001; Fencing: dominant 462.4 ± 47.4 ms vs non-dominant 481.3 ± 65.1 ms, p < 0.001). No significant interaction between sport type and dominance was found (p = 0.851). To examine whether sex influenced lateral dominance (males: n = 44, females: n = 41), we compared the Δ% in RT between the non-dominant and dominant hand. No significant differences were observed between males and females (males: 3.91 ± 6.93%; females: 3.38 ± 4.64%; p = 0.718). Pearson correlations revealed a significant inverse association between attentional index and RT (volleyball: r = −0.460, p = 0.006; fencing: r = −0.418, p = 0.007), indicating that greater attentional capacity relates to shorter RT. These findings suggest that dominance effects persist in elite athletes regardless of sport-specific motor symmetry, and that attentional abilities contribute meaningfully to visuo-motor responsiveness.