Original Articles
Early Access
https://doi.org/10.4081/ejtm.2026.16043

Preliminary pre-post changes in neuromuscular performance after application of a wearable photobiomodulation device in young tennis athletes

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Received: 30 July 2026
Published: 24 September 2026
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Photobiomodulation, tennis, youth athletes, explosive performance

Authors

Alberto Grossi
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2832-1960
Department of Neurosciences, Biomedicine and Movement, University of Verona, Italy, Department of Human Science and Promotion of Quality of Life, San Raffaele University, Rome, Italy.
Andrea Fabris
https://orcid.org/0009-0001-2054-1811
Department of Human Science and Promotion of Quality of Life, San Raffaele University, Rome, Italy.
Francesca Campoli
francesca.campoli@uniroma5.it
https://orcid.org/0009-0004-1342-5881
Department of Human Science and Promotion of Quality of Life, San Raffaele University, Rome, Italy.
Lucio Caprioli
Department of Human Science and Promotion of Quality of Life, San Raffaele University, Rome, Italy; Department of Sports Engineering Lab, “Tor Vergata” University, Rome, Italy.
Matteo Vitarelli
Department of Neurosciences, Biomedicine and Movement, University of Verona, Italy, Department of Human Science and Promotion of Quality of Life, San Raffaele University, Rome, Italy.
Donatella Di Corrado
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8223-6671
Department of Sport Sciences, Kore University, Cittadella Universitaria, Enna, Italy.
Claudio Messina
Posturalab Research Institute, Palermo, Italy.
Domenico Cherubini
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5207-7558
Facultad de Deporte, Catholic University of Murcia (UCAM), Murcia, Spain.
Robert Nowak
Institute of Physical Culture Sciences, University of Szczecin, Poland; Department of Pathology, Pomeranian Medical University in Szczecin, Szczecin, Poland.
Elvira Padua
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5227-2567
Department of Human Science and Promotion of Quality of Life, San Raffaele University, Rome, Italy.
Giuseppe Messina
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2774-4950
Department of Human Science and Promotion of Quality of Life, San Raffaele University, Rome, Italy; Posturalab Research Institute, Palermo, Italy.
Bruno Ruscello
Department of Human Science and Promotion of Quality of Life, San Raffaele University, Rome, Italy; Department of Industrial Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, “Tor Vergata” University, Rome, Italy; LUISS SportLab, Rome, Italy.

Athletes require effective recovery strategies to sustain performance, particularly in high-demand sports. Photobiomodulation (PBM) has emerged as a non-invasive approach capable of supporting muscle function without reported adverse effects. Wearable nanotechnology-based devices, such as Taopatch®, allow continuous and localized PBM delivery, representing a potential tool for sports applications. This pilot study investigated the acute effects of Taopatch® on neuromuscular performance in 28 young tennis players (11 females, 17 males; age 14.41 ± 2.60 years). Participants completed Squat Jump (SJ), Counter Movement Jump (CMJ), stiffness, and reaction time assessments before (T1) and after a 15-minute application period (T2). Taopatch® application was associated with pre–post increases in SJ flight time (unadjusted p = 0.042) and maximal pre-take-off velocity (Vmax; unadjusted p = 0.012), while CMJ concentric work also increased (unadjusted p = 0.014). Several effects remained significant after Benjamini–Hochberg false discovery rate correction, whereas none remained significant after the more conservative Holm–Bonferroni correction. Stiffness responses varied among subgroups, while reaction time remained unchanged. These preliminary findings suggest a potential association between Taopatch® application and acute changes neuromuscular performance. However, the statistical evidence was sensitive to the multiple-comparison correction applied, and controlled studies are required to confirm these exploratory observations.

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Ethics Approval

The study was approved by the Internal Research Board of the University of Enna "KORE", Prot. N°: 2574, 08 February 2024. All the procedures involved in this study were in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki.

CRediT authorship contribution

Conceptualization, Alberto Grossi, Giuseppe Messina and Bruno Ruscello; methodology, Alberto Grossi, Francesca Campoli, Donatella Di Corrado, Giuseppe Messina and Bruno Ruscello; formal analysis, Alberto Grossi, Francesca Campoli, Andrea Fabris and Lucio Caprioli; investigation, Alberto Grossi, Francesca Campoli, Andrea Fabris, Matteo Vitarelli, Claudio Messina and Domenico Cherubini; resources, Giuseppe Messina and Bruno Ruscello; data curation, Lucio Caprioli, Matteo Vitarelli and Claudio Messina; writing – original draft preparation, Alberto Grossi, Francesca Campoli, Andrea Fabris and Lucio Caprioli; writing – review & editing, Elvira Padua, Donatella Di Corrado and Robert Nowak; Supervision, Giuseppe Messina and Bruno Ruscello; project administration, Giuseppe Messina and Bruno Ruscello. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Supporting Agencies

This research received no external funding.

Data Availability Statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

 

How to Cite



1.
Grossi A, Fabris A, Campoli F, Caprioli L, Vitarelli M, Di Corrado D, et al. Preliminary pre-post changes in neuromuscular performance after application of a wearable photobiomodulation device in young tennis athletes. Eur J Transl Myol [Internet]. 2026 Sep. 24 [cited 2026 Sep. 27]; Available from: https://www.pagepressjournals.org/bam/article/view/16043
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