Research has fencers in its sights

The Department of Psychology and Society at the Institute of Sport and Sport Science at the University of Kassel has published partial results of a DFG project together with colleagues from the University of Münster, Amsterdam and Hanover. A study on the visual information processing of top 60 German fencers was presented in the current issue of the journal Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics. The study confirms that, in addition to physiological components, the performance advantage of top fencers lies in particular in their ability to better predict the target areas of fencing attacks from the opponent's preparation phase. This study also determined which visual characteristics top fencers use in the opponent's movement patterns to predict the attack targets. To identify the relevant movement parameters, the eye movements of fencers were recorded, among other things.

Contact and further information at:
Prof. Dr. Norbert Hagemann
cms.uni-kassel.de/sport/hagemann

Link to the article: http://app.psychonomic-journals.org/content/72/8/2204.abstract

Hagemann, N., Schorer, J., Cañal-Bruland, R., Lotz, S., & Strauss, B. (2010). Visual perception in fencing: Do the eye movements of fencers represent their information pickup? Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics, 72, 2204-2214. doi:10.3758/APP.72.8.2204