Modeling Players' Scanning Activity in Football.

The purpose of this study was to develop and test models of scanning activity in football. Gibson's ecological approach of visual perception and exploratory activity provided the theoretical framework for the models. The video-based data analysis consisted of 17 selected matches and 239 players of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) U17 and U19 European Championship 2018 and the UEFA U17 and U21 European Championship 2019. The results showed a positive relation between scanning frequency and successful passes, as well as changes in body orientation. Scanning frequency was also related to a player's appearances in national teams and to opponent pressure. Opponent pressure had a large effect on pass result and the player's body orientation. Previous research on the relation between scanning frequency and performance was extended by several contextual predictors. Future research should focus on gaining a deeper understanding of the relation between scanning frequency and further contextual variables related to scanning.

Scanning activity in elite youth football players.

The purpose of this study was to analyse the scanning behaviour of elite youth football players across different playing positions and age groups during high-level matches. Data was obtained by filming the 2018 UEFA European U17 and U19 Championship semi-finals and finals. A total of 53 outfield players from the four teams that reached the finals were analysed in both their respective semi-final and final matches, resulting in a total of 1686 attacking play situations. Ecological psychology provided us with the theoretical rationale for the study and informed our research hypotheses and interpretations. We found that U19 players performed more scans than U17 players. A positive relationship between scan frequency and pass success was also found. The results further suggest that opponent pressure and pitch position are both critical contextual factors that may influence scanning behaviour. In addition, central midfielders and central defenders were found to have higher scan frequencies than players in other positions. Our results support and extend previous research, suggesting that playing positions and age groups are important factors that impact visual perception and specifically scanning in football. Potential implications for coaches and recommendations for future studies are discussed.

Scanning activity of elite football players in 11 vs. 11 match play: An eye-tracking analysis on the duration and visual information of scanning.

Visual perception in football ("soccer" in the U.S.) is increasingly becoming a key area of interest for researchers and practitioners. This exploratory case study investigated a sub-set of visual perception, namely visual exploratory scanning. The aim of this study was to examine the scanning of four elite football midfield players in an 11 vs. 11 real-game environment using mobile eye-tracking technology. More specifically, we measured the duration and information (number of teammates and opponents) of the players' scanning behavior. The results showed that the players' scanning duration was influenced by the ball context and the action undertaken with the ball at the moment of scan initiation. Furthermore, fixations were found in only 2.3% of the scans. Additionally, the results revealed that the stop point is the most information-rich part of a scan and that the players had more opponents than teammates inside their video frame during scans. Practical applications and further research recommendations are presented.

What Do Football Players Look at? An Eye-Tracking Analysis of the Visual Fixations of Players in 11 v 11 Elite Football Match Play.

Current knowledge of gaze behavior in football has primarily originated from eye-tracking research in laboratory settings. Using eye-tracking with elite players in a real-world 11 v 11 football game, this exploratory case study examined the visual fixations of midfield players in the Norwegian premier league. A total of 2,832 fixations by five players, aged 17-23 years (M = 19.84), were analyzed. Our results show that elite football midfielders increased their fixation duration when more information sources became available to them. Additionally, participants used shorter fixation durations than previously reported in laboratory studies. Furthermore, significant differences in gaze behavior between the attack and defense phases were found for both areas of interest and fixation location. Lastly, fixation locations were mainly on the ball, opponent, and teammate category and the player in possession of the ball. Combined, the results of this study enhance the knowledge of how elite footballers use their vision when playing under actual match-play conditions. They also suggest that laboratory designs may not be able to capture the dynamic environment that footballers experience in competition.

Scanning, Contextual Factors, and Association With Performance in English Premier League Footballers: An Investigation Across a Season.

Scanning in football (soccer) denotes an active head movement where a player's face is temporarily directed away from the ball to gather information in preparation for subsequently engaging with the ball. The aim of this study was to learn more about the ways that 27 elite professional football players in an English Premier League club use scanning in competitive matches, the conditions under which this behavior is exhibited, and the relationships between these behaviors and performance. Players were filmed across 21 matches, producing a total number of 9,574 individual ball possessions for analysis. Close-up video analyses of scanning show positional differences (with central midfielders and central defenders scanning most frequently, forwards least) and contextual differences (with relatively lower scanning frequency in situations with tight opponent pressure, in positions wide in the field and closer to the opponent's goal, and under certain game state conditions). Players scan more frequently prior to giving passes than when they dribble, shoot, or only receive it, as well as prior to more long/forward passes compared to short/backward ones, although these differences are small. A Bayesian hierarchical model, which accounts for individual player differences and pass difficulty, suggests that the more a player scans, the higher the probability of completing a pass. In conclusion, match demands are likely to constrain the extent to which highly elite players scan, and scanning seems to have a small, but positive role in elite football players' performance.