The contribution of structured activity and deliberate play to the development of expert perceptual and decision-making skill.
The developmental histories of 32 players in the Australian Football League (AFL), independently classified as either expert or less skilled in their perceptual and decision-making skills, were collected through a structured interview process and their year-on-year involvement in structured and deliberate play activities retrospectively determined. Despite being drawn from the same elite level of competition, the expert decision-makers differed from the less skilled in having accrued, during their developing years, more hours of experience in structured activities of all types, in structured activities in invasion-type sports, in invasion-type deliberate play, and in invasion activities from sports other than Australian football. Accumulated hours invested in invasion-type activities differentiated between the groups, suggesting that it is the amount of invasion-type activity that is experienced and not necessarily intent (skill development or fun) or specificity that facilitates the development of perceptual and decision-making expertise in this team sport.
Berry
Jason
J
Essendon Football Club and the School of Human Movement & Sport Sciences, University of Ballarat, Victoria, Australia.
Abernethy
Bruce
B
Côté
Jean
J
D000328:Adult; D054874:Athletic Performance; D001315:Australia; D003657:Decision Making; D006803:Human Development; D006801:Humans; D010465:Perception; D011214:Practice, Psychological; D012916:Soccer; D013997:Time Factors