Effects of Oculomotor Scanning on Agility Performance: Gender and a Type of Team Sport Comparison

There is limited evidence of recording eye movements in real-time while performing specific motor tasks in team games in response to environmental stimuli. This study aimed to examine how elite basketball and volleyball athletes adopted strategies during agility tasks, based on the type of team sports and gender. A total of 60 skilled players from both sports (30 males and 30 females), aged 16-18 years, participated in this study. Agility variables were assessed using the "Five-Time Shuttle Run to Gates" test, based on the "stop and go" protocol. To determine variables of fixation and saccade eye movements during the agility task, a mobile eye-tracking system was employed. MANOVA showed statistically significant main effects of gender and the type of team sport on agility (for both factors, p < 0.001, η² _part > 0.14) and on the number of saccades (η² _part = 0.16, p = 0.002; η² _part = 0.10, p = 0.018). Additionally, gender affected the number of fixations (η² _part = 0.08, p = 0.037). Regression analysis was used to explore the correlation between oculomotor variables and agility, indicating that for female basketball players, the number of saccades (ß = 1.04, B = 0.10) and the average velocity of saccades (ß = 0.79, B = 0.02) were the primary factors explaining agility variability. However, for male basketball players, agility test outcomes were largely determined by the duration of saccadic movements (ß = 0.79, B = 0.02). The findings suggest that the oculomotor scanning strategy in agility tasks significantly impacts athletic performance, and is influenced by the type of team sports and gender.