VISUAL-SEARCH, ANTICIPATION, AND REACTIVE COMPARISONS BETWEEN HIGHLY-SKILLED AND BEGINNING TENNIS PLAYERS

Simulated tennis playing situations were created for the laboratory te sting of visual search patterns, anticipation, reactions, and movement s to compare male and female high-level and beginning players. Of part icular interest was the degree to which each measure would differentia te the groups. participants were highly-rated university players (N=30 ) and students enrolled in a beginning tennis class (N=30). Under one testing condition, visual search patterns were recorded as they viewed filmed opponents serve (60 trials) and hit ground strokes (60 trials) . Also recorded was anticipation accuracy and speed of the intended ty pe and location of serves and the intended placement of ground strokes . In other testing, execution of a split step was followed by moving r apidly to the correct location for a simulated stroke in response to a series of light cues. Reaction and movement times were recorded. Disc riminant analysis revealed that experts and beginners were most differ entiated due to fixations on certain cues and predicting ball directio n. As to visual search analysis of fixation duration for nine possible areas during the serves, only the head area was significant. Beginner s directed more time toward the head region than did the highly skille d. Experts and novices had similar visual patterns with respect to gro und strokes, and a few differences existed within the two female group s, in the two male groups, as well as between males and females. Antic ipation measures for the serve indicated that experts were faster and more accurate than beginners, and males were faster than females. Grou nd stroke data revealed that the highly-skilled were faster and more a ccurate than novices. Finally, the simulated split-step data showed th at reaction times and movement times were faster for the experts versu s the beginners, and males were quicker in movement times than females .