Anticipation of badminton serves during naturalistic match-play: a case for the post-performance analysis of perceptual-cognitive skills.

Roberts, James W. and Keen, Ben and Kawycz, Simon (2019) Anticipation of badminton serves during naturalistic match-play: a case for the post-performance analysis of perceptual-cognitive skills. Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness. ISSN 0022-4707 (Accepted for Publication)

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Abstract

BACKGROUND: It has been frequently evidenced that skilled sport performers distinguish themselves from less-skilled based on key temporally constrained perceptual cues in order to anticipate future events. However, the evidence to-date has arguably failed to reflect the true nature of perceptual-cognitive skill in sport, and thus negated any robust suggestions for the assessment and training of athletes. The present study attempts to address this issue by observing measures of anticipation within purely naturalistic match-play.
METHODS: A series of skilled (n=8) and less-skilled (n=8) badminton players undertook regular match-play while an equal number of digital recordings were made of their return-of-serve (n=10). Frame-by-frame analyses were conducted to indicate the moment of initiation and accuracy of initial response selection.
RESULTS: Inter-observer agreement for time (r = .70, p < .00) and accuracy (90.63%) measures were robust. Performance differences between the groups were stark including significant differences for time (Mdn: skilled = 184 ms; less-skilled = 322 ms) and accuracy (Mdn: skilled = 9; less-skilled = 6) (ps < .00).
CONCLUSION: Influence of skill level corresponds with empirically derived suggestions of skilled athletes accessing domain-specific knowledge for the anticipation of future events. Thus, the naturalistic performance setting offers a viable alternative for further examination, while additionally incorporating the invariant features and contextual information that underlie sport performance.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information and Comments:	This is the author's version of an article that has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness. The journal is available online at https://www.minervamedica.it/en/journals/sports-med-physical-fitness/index.php
Faculty / Department:	Faculty of Human and Digital Sciences > School of Health and Sport Sciences
Depositing User:	James Roberts
Date Deposited:	22 Mar 2019 11:53
Last Modified:	24 Apr 2019 13:24
URI:	https://hira.hope.ac.uk/id/eprint/2791

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