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Goalkeepers learn to convergence to
more useful information for stopping a penalty Geert Savelsbergh & John van der Kamp |
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| In the literature are generally positive in their findings with respect to the potential of perceptual training. For instance, Abernethy, Wood and Parks (1999) improved the squash anticipatory skills through instruction to the participant to the relevant area of information. Participants were presented with short video clips each filmed from the perspective of the defensive squash player and showed an opposing squash player who executed a particular stroke. The authors provided evidence that anticipatory skills, at least as assessed by standardized laboratory procedures, can be enhanced with practice. However, it should be emphasised that perceptual learning is not exclusively a matter of the most useful information. It also involves the learning of accurate timing of attention to moments at which the most useful sources are available. Information is by definition dynamic rather than static, that is, it is defined by persistence under change (in time) (Gibson, 1979). |
In other words, not only is the
particular information, but also the moment at which it is available
is of importance. The aim of the study is to improve the estimation of the direction of the ball during penalty kicks by changing the visual search behaviour. Inexperienced goalkeepers divided into three groups moved a joystick in response to penalty kick situations presented on a large screen in a pre-test, training and post-test. The perceptual learning (education of attention) group practised with film clips that were edited with a highlight over the relevant information in the sequence of the run-up of the shooter. The training group practised with the same film clips without any highlights. The third group served as control. The findings in the post-test showed that the visual search behaviour of the perceptual training group changed significantly through direction of attention, changed its time of initiation of the joystick, which coincided with the most important visual information and stopped significantly more penalties than the other two groups (Savelsbergh et al., 2009. |
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