Laaksonen, Aino-Maija. 2017. Perception and decision making in women’s floorball. Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences, University of Jyväskylä, 77 pp.

According to information processing model the motor skill can be divided into three components: perception, decision making and motor execution. Previous studies have shown that the perception and decision making are as important as motor execution itself for the successful motor performance. Therefore, developing one’s (visual) perceptual and decision making skills should be seen as important as practicing one’s motor execution, i.e. technical skills. The aim of this study was to examine the differences in the visual search strategy of the elite and sub-elite players in women’s floorball. In the present study, three game situations common in floorball were simulated so that the number of objects to be followed by the player increased because the number of players in the situation increased. The participants of the study were elite (n=8) and sub-elite players (n=8). The study consisted of three different offensive situations: breakaway, 1v1 and 2v1. The eye movements were recorded by using Tobii Pro 2 Wireless –glasses. From the eye movements, the duration of the fixations, the number of fixations to the areas of special interest and the time when player look for the next object of the fixation, were analyzed. The areas of special interest were ball, goalkeeper, goal, empty spaces, potential passing direction, defender’s feet, body and stick. Duration of the fixation and the number of fixations were analyzed from the eye movement video with Dartfish –software. Differences between the elite and sub-elite players were analyzed with repeated measures ANOVA. In the study, it was found out that the sub-elite players looked significantly more to the ball in every situation (p < 0,001). In breakaway situation, the elite players looked more to the goalkeeper (p < 0,001) and the goal (p = 0, 05). In the 1v1 situation, the elite players looked more to the goalie (p = 0,041), goal (p = 0,011), the defender’s feet (p = 0,001), and the defender’s body (p = 0,045). In the 2v1 situation, the elite players looked more to the defender’s feet (p < 0,001), the stick (p = 0,012) and the body (p = 0,009). In addition, the elite players looked more to the goal (p = 0,039), free spaces (p = 0,004) and potential passing direction (p = 0,03). Significant differences between the groups were also found in the number of fixations. The sub-elite players looked more often to the ball in the breakaway (p = 0, 03). In the breakaway, the elite players looked more often the goal (p = 0,048) and the goalkeeper (p = 0,001). Also in the the 1v1, the elite players looked more often the goal (p = 0,014) and the goalkeeper (p = 0, 05). In addition. The elite players looked more often to defender’s feet (p = 0,027), stick (p = 0,032) and body (p = 0,017) in the 1v1 situation. In the 2v1, the sub-elite players looked more often the ball (p < 0,001). The elite players looked more the goal (p = 0,039), defender’s body (p = 0,008) and free spaces (p = 0,003). Players looked significantly more to the ball in the 1v1 compared to breakaway (p = 0,007). The duration of the fixation to the ball area were smaller in the 2v1 than in the 1v1 (p = 0,007). The duration of the fixation to the goalkeeper decreased as the number of players in the situation increased: breakaway (22 %), 1v1 (3, 5 %) and 2v1 (2 %) (p < 0,001). There was also a significant difference between 1v1 and 2v1 (p = 0,044). These findings suggest that the floorball practice should include situations where players perceptual and decision making skills are stressed. This way the players can learn to recognize essential areas where to pick up the releveant visual information needed for the effective decision making in the floorball.