title: An exploratory study of perceptual-motor abilities of women: novice and skilled players of team handball.
abstract: Comparisons of ability between skilled performers and novices have been made for activities such as basketball, volleyball, tennis, squash, and badminton, but there is little work on team-handball which is not a well-recognized sport in North America. To examine a variety of perceptual, e.g., anticipation time, reaction time, and motor, e.g., throwing tasks, abilities of skilled and novice female team-handball players 13 First Division (skilled) and 10 recreational (novice) players (M age = 25.3 yr.) performed 2 laboratory activities (for measurement of anticipation time, reaction time and movement time) and 3 field tasks (for measurement of accuracy and speed of throwing abilities) in random order. Reaction time and movement time were collected during a unique team-handball motor activity. Analyses of variance with repeated measures on trial blocks indicated high mean proficiency for the skilled participants in reaction time and all field-throwing tests compared with the novice participants. These reliable differences in team-handball activities further support superiority in sport settings gained by physical achievements and psychomotor excellence. In other words, skilled female team-handball players threw faster and more accurately and responded more rapidly than novice players.
authors.affiliation: Motor Behavior Laboratory, Zinman College of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, Wingate Institute, Netanya, Israel.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lidor
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Argov
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Daniel
mesh_terms: D000124:Achievement; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009048:Motor Skills; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D011930:Reaction Time; D012737:Sex Factors; D013177:Sports / Q000523:psychology*