Determinants of Decision Making in Novice and Elite Soccer Goalkeepers

Eye tracking and EMG are novel measurement technologies that can be used to assess perceptual processes in sports under real-life conditions. The study was conducted on two groups of soccer goalkeepers (N = 60): Group A—expert goalkeepers (22.8 ± 2.15 years of age; training experience 12.77 ± 3.89 years); Group B—novice goalkeepers (15.70 ± 1.12 years of age; training experience 8.35 ± 2.68 years). Main findings: 1. The elite goalkeepers (Group A) focused most of their attention on only one main object (the foot of the opponent’s kicking leg) compared to novice youth goalkeepers (Group B), whose area of interest consisted of more elements: the knee, the lower leg, the foot of the attacking leg, and the ball. 2. The elite goalkeepers (Group A) showed a significantly shorter decision-making time (240–260 ms) than the novice goalkeepers (290–310 ms) in a two-on-one match situation. 3. The use of anticipatory perceptual skills resulted in more accurate anticipation and decision making in elite goalkeepers than in novice goalkeepers, whose perceptual patterns were more dispersed. 4. The anticipatory activity and structure of bioelectric tensions of the rectus femoris (RF) muscle provide useful information for the development of successful anticipatory actions. The ability to recognize signals is a prerequisite for combining movement sequences according to a predetermined pattern and allows for accurate decision making in the goalkeeper’s playing strategy.