Attention in Athletes of High and Low Experience Engaged in Different Open Skill Sports

Abstract

In this study were examined differences in attentional style of athletes engaged in two open skill sports requiring high reactivity (karate and volleyball) in groups with high or low experience. 42 healthy men, 24 volleyball players, 12 of High Experience (first division Italian League players whose M age was 28 yr. (SD=5) and 12 of Low Experience (prejunior Italian team athletes whose M age was 19 yr. (SD= 2). and 18 karateka, 9 of High Experience (3rd and 4th dan black belt athletes whose M age was 31 yr., SD=5) and 9 of Low Experience (1st and 2nd dan black belt karateka whose M age was 32 yr., SD=5). Tests involved different types of attention: Alert, Go/No-Go, Divided Attention, and Working Memory. For each one, the reaction time (RT), variability, change in RT, and number of errors were analysed. Karateka of High Experience reacted faster than those of Low Experience on the simple RT test, Alert (M RT: 204 vs 237 msec., p< .01), while on the Divided Attention test, the High Experience subjects performed more poorly and committed more errors (M errors: 4.89 vs 1.44, p <.003). Young volleyball players of Low Experience reacted faster than colleagues of High Experience on the Alert (M RT: 187 vs 210 msec., p<.01) and Divided Attention tests (M RT: 590 vs 688 msec., p<.001) but committed more errors (Divided Attention test, M errors: 6.50 vs 3.08, p<.007). For the Divided Attention and Working Memory tests, correlations were positive among errors, RT, and RT variability but only for volleyball athletes of High Experience, suggesting they showed higher attention and stability in complex reactions than the group with Low Experience. No significant correlations were noted for either group of karateka on complex reactions. Results suggested that the attentional resources were engaged in different ways in the two groups of athletes and, in each group, there were differences between persons of High and Low Experience.

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“…In this context, combat sports may prove to be capable of developing certain abilities, as Barcelos (2009) states, although little is known about other effects of these modalities, especially on the executive functions of children and adolescents; however, due to its "open" characteristic, that is, there is no possibility of predicting the movements, motor performance is directly related to the capacity to respond to the changes that occur in the environment, an affirmation corroborated by Fontani (2006). Lakes (2004) postulate that the martial arts historically have emphasized the importance of selfregulation, using terms such as self-control, body control, and discipline.…”

The Influence of Different Performance Level of Fencers on Simple and Choice Reaction Time

“…Their study shows that not even the difference in choice RT (CRT) among elite and sub-elite fencers was found out. It is also necessary to note that the suggestions that more experienced athletes have lower levels of RT cannot be proven 5,10 .…”

“…These conclusions support the assumption that in these sports the level of SRT is not the main predictor of a successful performance. Fontani et al 10 add that thanks to years of experience gained by training process, professional athletes have lower values if choice reaction time (CRT). The phenomenon of CRT is tied to the Hicks law.…”

Optimization of Performance in Top-Level Athletes during the Kumitein Sport Karate

“…Testimonies from the participants confirm that long-term training significantly influences the reduction of anxiety not only before and during kumite, but also in everyday life [29]. It is a fact that the offensive approach is most widely used in tactical preparation, and it characterizes the athletes with efficient attention processes, thus providing fast and accurate reactions to spatial and visual stimuli [19,[30][31][32][33] and with extraordinary sensory and motor performance in relation to the speed and power during kumite [34][35][36][37].…”