Field of vision influences sensory-motor control of skilled and less-skilled dart players

One characteristic of perceptual expertise in sport and other domains is known as 'the quiet eye',which assumes that fixated information is processed during gaze stability and insufficient spatial information leads to a decrease in performance. the aims of this study were a) replicating inter- and intra-group variability and b) investigating the extent to which quiet eye supports information pick-up of varying fields of vision (i.e.,central versus peripheral) using a specific eye-tracking paradigm to compare different skill levels in a dart throwing task. differences between skill levels were replicated at baseline,but no significant differences in throwing performance were revealed among the visual occlusion conditions. findings are generally in line with the association between quiet eye duration and aiming performance,but raise questions regarding the relevance of central vision information pick-up for the quiet eye. © journal of sports science and medicine (2012).