ABSTRACT
In many sports, performers have to make rapid decisions in a complex and constantly changing environment. For example, games players must act on the basis of information presented by the ball, team-mates and opponents (Williams et al. 1994). These decisions must be made under pressure with opponents trying to restrict both the time and space available to perform. In Chapter 2, we suggested that effective performance in such contexts requires that players focus their attention only on the most relevant or crucial sources of information. That is, knowing ‘where’ and ‘when’ to look are important aspects of skilled performance. The way in which performers continually move their eyes to focus on selected areas of the display has generated significant interest in recent years. It has been known for some time that the visual search patterns displayed by the expert are not conducted in a random manner, but are based on deliberate perceptual strategies (Bard and Fleury 1981). Eye movements are controlled by a search strategy which enables the performer to make more efficient use of the time available for analysis of the display.
