title: The effects of baseball experience on movement initiation in catching fly balls.
abstract: Previous research has shown that skilled athletes are able to respond faster than novices to skill-specific information. The aim of this study was to ascertain whether expert outfielders are faster than non-experts in acting on information about the flight of a fly ball. It was hypothesized that expert outfielders are better attuned to this information; as a result, faster and more accurate responses were expected. This hypothesis was tested by having non-expert and expert outfielders judge, as quickly as possible, where a ball would land in the front-behind dimension (perceptual condition) and, in another condition, to attempt to catch such balls (catching condition). The results of the perceptual condition do not support the hypothesis that expert outfielders are more sensitive to ball flight information than non-experts, but the results of the catching condition reveal that experts are more likely to initiate locomotion in the correct direction.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Fundamental and Clinical Human Movement Sciences, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: R R
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Oudejans
authors.forename: C F
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Michaels
authors.forename: F C
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Bakker
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001484:Baseball / Q000193:education / Q000502:physiology*; D003657:Decision Making; D005528:Foot / Q000502:physiology; D006257:Head / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009039:Motion Perception / Q000502:physiology; D009048:Motor Skills / Q000502:physiology*; D009068:Movement; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology; D013997:Time Factors; D014743:Videotape Recording; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology