Visual search strategy of goal referees in handball

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to show the visual search behavior and strategies of expert handball goal referee when they were able to make correct decisions instantly. The subjects were A level expert referee certified by handball association and D level novice referee. The subjects were asked to judge 8 situations on 2-on-2 (Left Wing and Left Back) by wearing an eye-movement registration system to acquire their viewing point for the detection of visual search behaviors. The expert referee showed few fixations and long fixation duration under the important situations to make a judgment. The results indicated the expert referee possessed the changeable visual perception skills for receiving visual information under the critical situations.