Movement Preparation

On Saturday September 18, 2010 I watched the University of Georgia (UGA) vs. University of Arkansas (UA) game. During this game I observed several factors which include: Reaction Time, Hick's law, Psychological Refractory Period, and Anticipation.


Reaction time:
 Reaction time is the time between a stimulus and the initial response. In football and evident in this game, there are several opportunities to observe a players reaction time. A few examples are the time between the snap of the football and the defensive/offensive line reactions, the time between a player seeing the ball in the air and catching it, and the time between the snap of the ball and the player who holds the ball during a field goal attempt.

Hick's Law:
 Hick's law states that an increase in uncertainty leads to a longer reaction time. For example, if a quarterback has only one person to throw to their reaction time would be faster than that of a quarterback who has several people to throw to and must decide which is the best choice. This example showed up multiple times during the UGA vs. UA game. Another example is a run play where the football team in possession of the ball will attempt to gain yardage by running the ball as apposed to passing it. Most run plays leave the runner with a specific hole, or opening, to run through. These plays have a faster reaction time than those that give multiple options.

Psychological Refractory Period:
 Psychological refractory period refers to two stimuli that are presented successively and require two different responses. In football we see this when players step one way, when they spin out of plays, and when teams will do a special play such as a fake punt pass. During the UGA vs. UA game there were several instances where players from both teams would run the ball and would pump fake one way and go the other in order to avoid a defender. One of UA's players did this very well and on one run avoided four Georgia defenders.

Anticipation:
 Anticipation is predicting what and when something will happen. The snap of the ball is an anticipation that happens for both the defense and the offense. An accurate anticipation of the snap would lead to the play being played all the way through while an inaccurate anticipation of the snap will most likely lead to a false start and a penalty. There were a few false starts throughout the game; making accurate predictions can win help games while inaccurate predictions can greatly hurt a teams position.