Comparison of reaction time and anticipatory skill between female athletes and non-athletes

Background and Aim: Perceptual abilities (reaction time and anticipatory skill) are essential for successful performance in daily activities. Training in dynamic and unpredicted sport domains such as volleyball might make changes in perceptual abilities of athletes compared to non-athletes. Therefore, the aim of this study was to compare reaction time and anticipatory skill of volleyball players versus non-athletes. Materials and Methods: Eleven female volleyball players and 11 female non-athletes participated in this study. Auditory choice reaction time, auditory complex choice reaction time, visual choice reaction time, visual complex choice reaction time, anticipatory skill of the high speed of the ball and anticipatory skill of the low speed of ball of both groups were analyzed by a software (Speed Anticipation Reaction Test (SART)). Results: Statistical analysis did not show any significant differences between two groups in both auditory reaction time tests (P> 0.05). However, volleyball players showed better results in visual choice reaction time, visual complex choice reaction time, anticipatory skill of the high speed of the ball and anticipatory skill of the low speed of ball tests (P> 0.05). Conclusion: Volleyball players acquire extensive knowledge of sport specific patterns of perceptual abilities due to experiences within the volleyball domain and due to the efficient extraction of this knowledge in similar conditions such as, computerized neurocognitive tests, they have superior perceptual skills than non-athletes. Key words: Reaction time, Anticipatory skill, Volleyball players, Neurocognitive tests.