Visual search strategies and game knowledge in junior Australian rules football players: testing potential in talent identification and development.

This study explored video-based decision-making and eye-movement behavior as a complementary method to assess the decision-making skills and knowledge of elite junior Australian Rules (AR) Football players. Performance was measured twice over an 18-month period. This approach tested a practical and reliable assessment of decision-making and game knowledge that does not contribute to physical training load. N = 59 participants were categorized based on their training age groups, U14 (N = 38, Mage 13.37 ± 0.47) and U16 (N = 21, Mage 14.80 ± 0.39). Participants watched 14 brief video clips and provided action choices while wearing eye-movement recording glasses that captured visual search patterns (e.g., fixations). Decision accuracy and speed of decision-making were also recorded. Participants with accurate decisions made significantly faster decisions compared to less skilled players (p < 0.001). Further, skilled participants had significantly fewer fixations of shorter duration compared to less skilled participants at both the initial and follow-up testing sessions (p < 0.0001). This suggests that eye-movement characteristics, remain a relatively stable measure over moderate periods of time. With the ability to differentiate between more and less skilled decision-makers, this proof-of-concept study proposes that examining eye movements in relation to decision-making and game knowledge is a viable tool for Talent Identification and Development (TID) to complement current measures. We provide a platform for further development and research in the quest for efficient and effective talent identification processes.

Examining the Eye Movement Behaviors Associated With Skilled Decision-Making by Elite Australian Rules Football Players.

Exploration of eye-movement behaviors of humans can provide insight into the processes used to inform and make decisions, with a large body of research revealing general trends, especially in the sporting context. Despite this some questions remain within the sport context particularly for elite groups engaged in diverse sports, and the potential for this information to provide for training, development, and performance. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the critical fixation points and durations associated with superior decision-making within an elite group of Australian Rules football players. To achieve this eye-movement behavior (fixations) and associated decision-making skills of (N = 27; Mage = 25.0 ± 3.7 yrs) elite Australian Rules (AR) football players were measured while they watched game-based video clips. The most skilled players made significantly faster decisions compared to less skilled players (p < 0.001), who also had significantly shorter total fixation duration (p < 0.0001). Further, analysis showed that the most skilled players spent more time fixating on potential options within an area of interest (p = 0.003). Thus, within a group of highly skilled group of athletes, distinctions can be made on perceptual-cognitive skills, for outcome decisions and decision processes. That is, skilled decision-makers appear to have more efficient visual search strategies, which may help them process visual information more effectively. Further, examination of these behaviors may aid sport science and coaching staff identify the process that can be refined to increase player ability between and within various teams.

Transient Relative Age Effects across annual age groups in National level Australian Swimming.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the prevalence, magnitude and transient patterning of Relative Age Effects (RAEs) according to sex and stroke event across all age-groups at the Australian National age swimming Championships. DESIGN: Repeated years of cross-sectional participation data were examined. METHODS: Participants were 6014 unique male (3185) and female (2829) swimmers (aged 12-18 years) who participated in Freestyle (50, 400m) and/or Breaststroke (100, 200m) at the National age swimming Championships between 2000-2014 (inclusive). RAE prevalence, magnitude and transience were determined using Chi-square tests and Cramer's V estimates for effect size. Odds Ratios (OR) and 95% Confidence Intervals (CI) examined relative age quartile discrepancies. These steps were applied across age-groups and according to sex and each stroke event. RESULTS: Consistent RAEs with large-medium effect sizes were evident for males at 12-15 years of age respectively, and with large-medium effects for females at 12-14 respectively across all four swimming strokes. RAE magnitude then consistently reduced with age across strokes (e.g., Q1 vs. Q4 OR range 16year old males=0.94-1.20; females=0.68-1.41). With few exceptions, by 15-16 years RAEs had typically dissipated; and by 17-18 years, descriptive and significant inverse RAEs emerged, reflecting overrepresentation of relatively younger swimmers. CONCLUSIONS: Performance advantages associated with relative age (and thereby likely growth and maturation) are transient. Greater consideration of transient performance and participation in athlete development systems is necessary. This may include revising the emphasis of sport programmes according to developmental stages and delaying forms of athlete selection to improve validity.

Can Video Self-Modeling Improve Affected Limb Reach and Grasp Ability in Stroke Patients?

The authors examined whether feedforward video self-modeling (FF VSM) would improve control over the affected limb, movement self-confidence, movement self-consciousness, and well-being in 18 stroke survivors. Participants completed a cup transport task and 2 questionnaires related to psychological processes pre- and postintervention. Pretest video footage of the unaffected limb performing the task was edited to create a best-of or mirror-reversed training DVD, creating the illusion that patients were performing proficiently with the affected limb. The training yielded significant improvements for the forward movement of the affected limb compared to the unaffected limb. Significant improvements were also seen in movement self-confidence, movement self-consciousness, and well-being. FF VSM appears to be a viable way to improve motor ability in populations with movement disorders.

Can biological motion research provide insight on how to reduce friendly fire incidents?

The ability to accurately detect, perceive, and recognize biological motion can be associated with a fundamental drive for survival, and it is a significant interest for perception researchers. This field examines various perceptual features of motion and has been assessed and applied in several real-world contexts (e.g., biometric, sport). Unexplored applications still exist however, including the military issue of friendly fire. There are many causes and processes leading to friendly fire and specific challenges that are associated with visual information extraction during engagement, such as brief glimpses, low acuity, camouflage, and uniform deception. Furthermore, visual information must often be processed under highly stressful (potentially threatening), time-constrained conditions that present a significant problem for soldiers. Biological motion research and anecdotal evidence from experienced combatants suggests that intentions, emotions, identities of human motion can be identified and discriminated, even when visual display is degraded or limited. Furthermore, research suggests that perceptual discriminatory capability of movement under visually constrained conditions is trainable. Therefore, given the limited military research linked to biological motion and friendly fire, an opportunity for cross-disciplinary investigations exists. The focus of this paper is twofold: first, to provide evidence for the possible link between biological motion factors and friendly fire, and second, to propose conceptual and methodological considerations and recommendations for perceptual-cognitive training within current military programs.

What is the effect of compression garments on a balance task in female athletes?

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the effect of long leg compression garments on the postural sway and balance ability of female athletes at a state sports institute. DESIGN: A laboratory was set up to analyse kinetic and kinematic variables using a double blind, randomised controlled repeated measures cross over design. METHOD: Participants were required to perform a single leg balance task for up to 60s across six conditions; including eyes-open and eyes-closed while wearing conventional shorts (control), loose-fitted compression garment and well-fitted compression garments. Simultaneous measurements of ground reaction forces and full body joint kinematics were recorded. Postural stability was assessed by measuring the overall stabilisation time as well as the movement of the centre of pressure (CoP) and centre of mass (CoM) from baseline measures. RESULTS: During one leg stance, significantly greater postural stability (p < 0.01) was observed with eyes open vs eyes closed, irrespective of compression group. A significantly greater (p < 0.05) balance time was observed with eyes closed when wearing well-fitted compression garments compared to conventional shorts. Differences were not present with use of the loose-fitted garment. Additionally, a significant interaction effect between compression condition and vision was observed analysing the variation about the sway (swaySD) of the CoP and CoM data (p < 0.05). The interaction effect revealed greater variability of movement with eyes closed as participants' level of compression decreased. No significant differences were observed with eyes open. CONCLUSIONS: The difficulties of postural stability while maintaining the single leg stance wearing conventional shorts were improved with use of the well-fitted compression garments (in the eyes-closed condition). Proper fitted compression garments may be beneficial for injury management and injury prevention.

Time-motion analysis of international and national level futsal.

Futsal is the Fédération de Internationale Football Association's officially recognized five-a-side indoor soccer, which although increasing in popularity worldwide, lacks the Australian or other English language research necessary to enable the growth of the sport. The purpose of this study was to establish a comprehensive overview of the demands of futsal by a time-motion analysis on 8 Australian National Team players and 10 State League Team players over 4 futsal matches. The study analyzed 6 locomotor activity categories, focusing on total distance covered, total duration of activities, total frequency of activities, effort distance, and effort duration. The national team covered a 42% greater overall distance than the state league team. In terms of relative data normalized for match duration, only the standing duration value was significantly different between the teams. Furthermore, futsal players of elite and subelite level in Australia perform a change in activity every 8-9 seconds on the court, and the national team athletes attained a higher, yet nonsignificant, average match-play velocity. This may be because of the national futsal athletes participating in an extended game duration, potentially suggesting that higher levels of competition facilitate a higher intensity of match play and greater physiological demands on individual players. Apart from the differences in timing structure and overall metabolic work, there was no real difference between the levels of competition within the Australian futsal analysis, although at higher levels of competition, there may be a need for more recovery because of the elevated intensity of the match. When comparing the data with other countries, however, Australian futsal players produce less distance and duration than Spanish futsal players.