Rebecca Rienhoff

Transfer of motor and perceptual skills from basketball to darts

The quiet eye is a perceptual skill associated with expertise and superior performance; however, little is known about the transfer of quiet eye across domains. We attempted to replicate previous skill-based differences in quiet eye and investigated whether transfer of motor and perceptual skills occurs between similar tasks. Throwing accuracy and quiet eye duration for skilled and less-skilled basketball players were examined in basketball free throw shooting and the transfer task of dart throwing. Skilled basketball players showed significantly higher throwing accuracy and longer quiet eye duration in the basketball free throw task compared to their less-skilled counterparts. Further, skilled basketball players showed positive transfer from basketball to dart throwing in accuracy but not in quiet eye duration. Our results raise interesting questions regarding the measurement of transfer between skills.

The ‘Quiet Eye’ and Motor Performance: A Systematic Review Based on Newell’s Constraints-Led Model

IntroductionThe quiet eye (final fixation to a specific target prior to movement initiation) is a perceptual skill robustly associated with expertise and superior performance. The benefit of the phenomenon has been demonstrated in a range of sporting tasks. The mechanism(s) underpinning this phenomenon are much-debated and are associated with varying assumptions.ObjectiveThis systematic review categorizes previous quiet eye research based on Newell’s 1986 model of interacting constraints.Data SourcesThree electronic databases (Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed) were searched from inception until February 2015. Details of relevant studies were also obtained from one literature review and two book chapters.Eligibility Criteria and Synthesis MethodsTo frame the discussion of research evidence concerning the quiet eye, previous studies were evaluated based on a classification of manipulating performer, environment, and task constraints. Additionally, associative studies (without specific constraints), and interacting constraints (affecting more than one constraint) were considered.ResultsThis review emphasizes that the quiet eye is beneficial for performing aiming tasks and that Newell’s constraints model provides a useful framework for organizing knowledge in this area.ConclusionDespite the robust research on the value of the quiet eye, several gaps in current knowledge exist regarding the mechanism of the quiet eye effect.

Perceptual-cognitive expertise of handball coaches in their young and middle adult years

ABSTRACT There is little research investigating the maintenance of perceptual-cognitive expertise in general and even less comparing coaches of different ages. The aim of this study was to test for perceptual-cognitive differences between age groups, licence levels, and their interaction. This study investigated differences in skilled performance between young and middle-aged coaches of three different skill levels. Participants performed an accuracy-oriented pattern recall (mean distance in pixel) and a time-oriented flicker test (mean detection time in ms). There were some significant differences between age groups and between skill groups for both tests, but no interactions. For the pattern recall test, the effect sizes were larger for skill level differences, while for the flicker test effects were larger for ageing. These results suggest coaches are able to maintain accuracy skills better than reaction timed tasks. This is in line with findings on speeded performance in general populations, which show declines with age. Moreover, results also support findings on perceptual expertise in skills where accuracy was important.

Retention of Quiet Eye in Older Skilled Basketball Players

ABSTRACT There is mounting research to suggest that cognitive and motor expertise is more resistant to age-related decline than more general capacities. The authors investigated the retention of skills in medium-aged skilled (n = 14) and older-aged skilled (n = 7) athletes by comparing them with medium-aged less skilled (n = 15) and older-aged less skilled (n = 15) participants. Participants performed basketball free throws and dart throws as a transfer task under standardized conditions. Motor performance (accuracy) and perceptual performance (quiet eye) were examined across the four groups. There were significant differences between skill groups and age groups in throwing accuracy on both throwing tasks. Skilled players outperformed less skilled and medium-aged players outperformed older-aged players in basketball and dart throws. There were no significant differences in quiet eye duration across the skill or age groups in either task. These results indicate expertise in a perceptual motor task such as the basketball free throw can be retained in older athletes and that present models of skill maintenance should be re-evaluated to consider the issue of transfer.

Long-Term Prognostic Validity of Talent Selections: Comparing National and Regional Coaches, Laypersons and Novices

In most sports, the development of elite athletes is a long-term process of talent identification and support. Typically, talent selection systems administer a multi-faceted strategy including national coach observations and varying physical and psychological tests when deciding who is chosen for talent development. The aim of this exploratory study was to evaluate the prognostic validity of talent selections by varying groups 10 years after they had been conducted. This study used a unique, multi-phased approach. Phase 1 involved players (n = 68) in 2001 completing a battery of general and sport-specific tests of handball ‘talent’ and performance. In Phase 2, national and regional coaches (n = 7) in 2001 who attended training camps identified the most talented players. In Phase 3, current novice and advanced handball players (n = 12 in each group) selected the most talented from short videos of matches played during the talent camp. Analyses compared predictions among all groups with a best model-fit derived from the motor tests. Results revealed little difference between regional and national coaches in the prediction of future performance and little difference in forecasting performance between novices and players. The best model-fit regression by the motor-tests outperformed all predictions. While several limitations are discussed, this study is a useful starting point for future investigations considering athlete selection decisions in talent identification in sport.

Quiet Eye: The next generation – comment on Vickers

In this commentary on Joan Vicker’s target article (2016), we first recognize the work she has done in the last 35 years. We then provide examples of differentiations of the Quiet Eye (QE) that might be necessary to fully understand the multifacetedness of the phenomenon. Here we propose, as in our current review (Rienhoff, Tirp, Strauss, Baker, & Schorer, 2016), for the QE a differentiation by the mechanisms behind it. We suggest another categorization in the research on training the QE. Additionally, we provide further areas of research that are interesting for the future, namely the QE across life-span and the (in)dependence of the perceptual-motor processes.