Visual behaviour and decision-making in attack situations in volleyball

Abstract

The objective of this study was to compare the visual behaviour (number and duration of visual fixations) and decision-making (DM) in the analysis of attack scenes in volleyball, between coaches and young players. 59 subjects participated – 34 coaches (M = 16.7, SD = 9.4) with experience as players and volleyball coaches (M = 16.78, SD = 11.09), and 25 players (M = 16.9, SD = 1) with experience as volleyball players (M = 3.72, SD = 1.17). Attack scenes from the Tactical Declarative Knowledge Test in Volleyball (TDKT:Vb) were used for analysing DM quality, and Eye Tracking SMI RED500® was used during analysis of the scenes for analysing visual behaviour. The results show significant differences in the duration of fixations, being greater for the coaching group. It is concluded that there is a similar pattern of visual behavior in the comparison between groups, only differentiated by the duration of the visual fixations.