Author(s): SMIRNIOTOU, A., GIOLDASIS, A., Institution: KAPODISTRIAN UNIVERSITY OF ATHENS, Country: GREECE, Abstract-ID: 1153

INTRODUCTION:
Effective performance in dynamic team sports depends on how athletes allocate visual attention under varying spatial and temporal constraints. Soccer and futsal share common perceptual-motor demands but significantly differ in constraints and affordances, providing a useful framework in order to investigate adaptive visual search behavior. According to the ecological dynamics framework, constraints are shaped by the interaction of individual, task, and environmental boundaries that guide the emergence of functional behaviors. From this interaction, athletes perceive the possibilities for action (affordances) that are specific to their abilities and the information available in the performance environment. Consequently, different constraint configurations, such as those characterizing soccer and futsal, are expected to shape distinct patterns of visual search. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to compare visual behavior of soccer players through eye-tracking technology during the observation of game-based soccer and futsal video scenarios.
METHODS:
Seven male soccer players observed standardized soccer and futsal video clips while wearing a binocular eye-tracking system. Visual behavior was quantified using fixation-based metrics and area-of-interest (AOI) analyses, capturing both the temporal dynamics of gaze (e.g., fixation frequency, duration, transitions) and the spatial allocation of visual attention. Non-parametric statistics and chi-square analyses were used to examine differences between watching different sport environments.
RESULTS:
The results showed that futsal observation was characterized by a higher number of fixations, greater fixation frequency, more gaze transitions, and a greater proportion of fixations directed toward close-range available space around passing options. These patterns indicate a more exploratory visual search strategy. In contrast, soccer scenarios elicited longer fixation durations, a more distributed spatial allocation of gaze, and larger pupil diameters, consistent with a more exploitative strategy supported by greater spatial dispersion and longer temporal windows. Chi-square analyses confirmed systematic sport-specific differences in fixation distribution across AOIs.
CONCLUSION:
These findings highlight how visual search behavior adapts to sport-specific task constraints and support a constraints-led perspective of perception in team sports. From an applied perspective, the results suggest that futsal training formats may serve as representative micro-contexts of soccer performance, particularly in congested areas of play where spatial and temporal constraints resemble those of futsal. Such environments may therefore provide a valuable framework for developing visual strategies relevant to high-pressure situations in soccer.