Visual search behaviour in skilled field-hockey goalkeepers

In several sports, effective visual information pick-up has been shown to be crucial for successful goalkeeping. However, most of the studies that used video-based techniques, presented their participants with videos captured from a stationary camera view. In this study, we examined whether visual search behaviour and performance differ when presenting the stimuli with a moving camera view compared to a stationary camera view. To this end, we invited 15 skilled goalkeepers to watch video clips (from either a stationary or a moving camera perspective) of hockey penalty corners on a large screen, and to move a joystick in response to the actions observed. Visual gaze behaviour differed across the viewing conditions. Results suggest that in the moving camera condition visually tracking the ball resulted in visually 'overshooting' the stopping location of the ball (i.e., gaze tracking briefly continued beyond that stopping location), thereby leading to performance decrements. In contrast, shifting gaze towards the ball-and-stick location prior to ball release was a more beneficial strategy among skilled hockey goalkeepers.