Research Impact: Visual exploratory activity (VEA) refers to movements of the head made to detect information relevant to future actions. Evidence suggests that frequent VEA is a distinguishing characteristic of high-level footballers. Analysis of responses made by 303 current football coaches to an online survey revealed that coaches understand the concept of VEA, but showed wide variation in when, how and why VEA was coached and evaluated. A higher coaching qualification and experience (years coached and number of hours coached per week) was associated with a positive attitude towards coaching VEA. These results suggest areas for development in coach education.
Pulling, C., Kearney, P., Eldridge, D. and Dicks, M., 2018. Football coaches’ perceptions of the introduction, delivery and evaluation of visual exploratory activity. Psychology of Sport and Exercise. doi: 10.1016/j.psychsport.2018.08.001
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