Rui Marques

This study aimed to examine visual patterns in male novice youth and professional adult players while performing a jump shot. The sample included 20 basketball players grouped as under-16 youth (n = 10) and professional adult (n = 10) players. Each participant completed 50 shots at two distances (long range: 6.80 m; middle range: 4.23 m). Eye tracking glasses were used to obtain quiet eye (QE), the number of fixations, total fixation duration, duration of first and last fixation. An independent t-test was used to assess differences between groups. Shooting accuracy given by % of efficacy indicated that under-16 players attained poorer scores at both distances: long (t = −4.75, p < 0.01) and middle (t = −2.80, p < 0.012) distance. The groups also differed in QE time (long: 600 ms vs. 551 ms; middle: 572 ms vs. 504 ms) and total duration of the fixations (long: 663 ms vs. 606 ms; middle: 663 ms vs. 564 ms) in both long and middle distance shots. Significant differences also occurred in the last fixation (long distance: t = −4.301, p < 0.01; middle distance: t = −3.656, p < 0.01) with professional adult players presenting the value of, on average, 454–458 ms, while youth shooters 363–372 ms. In summary, visual strategy differed between under-16 youth and professional adult basketball players. To support their long-term sport development, it is recommended that youth basketball players focus their attention with longer final fixation before releasing the ball to improve their shot.

This work aimed to compare the visual patterns of under 16 (U16) athletes and professional basketball players. The sample was composed of 10 U16 (aged 15.2 ± 0.4 years; 7.1 ± 2.5 years of experience) and 10 professional (aged 27.6 ± 3.7 years; 18.4 ± 4.6 years of experience) basketball players. All athletes were males and right-handed. Each participant performed 50 jump shots from 10 different positions and 5 different angle shots (0°, 45°, 90°, 135° and 180°). Number of fixations, time of first and last fixation, total fixation duration and Quiet Eye (QE) time of all shots were analysed. Overall, results indicated that the U16 group showed greater within-group differences regarding shot positions, last fixation times, shot angles, and first and last fixation times. Additionally, the U16 group presented different visual strategies than those of professional players, with significant differences found for shooting positions and shot angles, particularly for shots performed on the left side of the field, and for QE times. In conclusion, our results add to the understanding that longer fixation times and longer QE time are associated with better jump-shot efficacy, and this relation is evident when comparing players of different age groups.