Is visual–perceptual or motor expertise critical for expert anticipation in sport?

Abstract

A prominent topic is whether visual or motor expertise makes greater contribution to expert visual anticipation in sport. This stems from psychological theories, such as common coding theory, which predicts perception and action can inform each other in a bidirectional manner. This paper reviews the literature that has investigated visual and motor expertise contributions to expert visual anticipation in sport. First, psychological theories are discussed that predict visual and motor contributions to perceptual-motor behaviour. Second, classifications of motor skills and studies are presented to evaluate the literature reviewed. Third, literature is reviewed with reference to performance, learning, and transfer of visual anticipation, which are all vital for successful sports performance. The review aims to stimulate thought about mechanisms underpinning visual and motor expertise relative to performance, learning, and transfer of anticipation skill, which can better guide the practitioner to improve skill.

Conocimiento de las tendencias de ataques rivales en el bloqueo de voleibol

“…These data could be considered as emanating from anticipatory responses, according to Hick´s law for choice reaction times (Hick, 1952). This high level of anticipatory performance could be underpinned by a greater accumulation of visuomotor experiences in sport (Brenton & Muller, 2018). For example, Cañal-Bruland et al (2011) found that high-skill volleyball players outperformed the outcome of opposition attacks in beach volleyball, compared to high-skill volleyball referees, because they previously had more specific visual and motor experiences in that sport.…”

Visual Behaviours of Expert Padel Athletes When Playing on Court: An In Situ Approach with a Portable Eye Tracker

“…We reasoned that past experiences in padel helped participants to develop an effective visual pattern, driving their gaze behaviours toward the relevant locations available in the sport environment. This accumulation of previous visuomotor experiences has been useful for expert athletes’ performance [ 60 ]. Specifically, the accumulation of these bodily experiences has been useful for guiding motor responses of players because (i) the exposure or familiarity to a situation or context helps them to read those cues related to opponents’ movements and object flight to anticipate their actions ( perceptual experience hypothesis), and (ii) the capability to perform a motor skill facilitates how an athlete perceives the environment ( motor experience hypothesis) [ 61 ].…”

Perceptual–Cognitive Expertise in Law Enforcement: An Object-Identification Task

“…Accordingly, the pickup of visual–perceptual information by an observer maps onto their motor representation and facilitates a motor response. Thus, when an observer picks up visual cues from an opponent, this perceptual–motor representation facilitates the anticipation of the subsequent action (Brenton & Müller, 2018). In other words, experience performing a motor task (e.g., tennis serve) should enhance anticipation ability for the same task (i.e., predicting whether an opponent’s serve will be to the receiving player’s forehand or backhand side).…”