Distinction of Catching and Throwing Skills Accompanied by Judgement Focusing on the Head Turn

Abstract

It is possible to identify softball defence as involving the dual task of catching and judging. Moreover, it is inferred that the process of visual information acquisition affects judgement in softball defence. Twelve experienced female softball players and eleven intermediate female softball players participated in this study. We compared the defence skill scores of the single-task test and the dual-task test, and the rate of head turn for the two groups of players when judging in the process of visual information acquisition. The results of the single-task test showed that there were no significant differences in the defence skill scores between the two groups. However, the results of the dual-task test showed that the defence skill scores of the experienced players were significantly higher than those of the intermediate players. Furthermore, the head-turn rate of the experienced players was significantly smaller than that of the intermediate players in normal condition, while in visual limited condition there were no significant differences between the two groups. In conclusion, it was suggested that differences in the extent of head turn is one of the factors in differences in softball defence skills.