Tactical knowledge and visual search analysis of female handball athletes from different age groups

Abstract

ProblemStatement: Performance in team sports depends on athletes’ ability to use their vision to scan the environment for relevant information and to make decisions based on this information. Experience and tactical knowledge seem to affect the quality of the visual search. However, the literature is scarce in the investigation of the relationship between these components, especially in young handball athletes. Purpose:The present study aimed to compare the declarative tactical knowledge, number of visual fixations, and fixation duration of female handball athletes from under-17 (U-17) and under-14 (U-14) age groups.Approach:Twelve female school handball players aged between 12 and 17 years old were divided into two groups consisting of six volunteers each: U-17 (15.83 ± 0.90) and U-14 (13.29 ± 0.70 years). Athletes’ tactical knowledge was assessed using the declarative tactical knowledge (DTK). For this purpose, 15 scenes from videos of handball matches were shown to the athletes, who had to verbally declare what decision the player with the ball should make and justify it, from a given moment when the scene was paused and then disappeared. During this test, the athletes' visual search was registered as the number and duration of visual fixations, using a stationary eye-tracking system. Comparisons between groups were performed using independent t-tests. Effect sizes were reported as Cohens’d.Results: The DTK scores were higher in U-17 group athletes compared to the U-14 group athletes(t (10) = 2.307; p = 0.04; d = 1.33). No differences were found in the comparison of the number of fixations(t (10) = 1,948; p = 0.08; d = 1.12) and fixation duration (t (10) = -2.140; p = 0.06; d= 1.23)between groups.Conclusions:The U-17 handball athletes had higher DTK than the U-14 group. This highlights a possible pattern of this variable according to age groups and reinforces the importance of enhancing tactical knowledge during the training process. Further research is warranted to investigate the relationship between DTK and visual search in athletes with different age groups.