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During performance in youth sports, previous research has shown that experts show superior response selection and skill execution. This study was done to examine differences in cognitive and skill execution components of game performance in young baseball players with the level of expertise being varied. Surprisingly, there hasn’t been much research done on sport expert performance during the transitional periods in childhood to adolescence. There is a great need for more research to be done on this topic for us to understand developing expertise in different sport contexts and how cognitive and skill execution components of performance combine and interact. Previous research on development studies in high-strategy sports, says that experts were predicted to exhibit greater accuracy in response selection and greater success in sport skill execution during game play. Also addressed was the relationship between years of experience in baseball and baseball skill performance.
Game performance was tested at three levels of expertise: low, average, and high-skilled players. Players were identified at each age level, ranging from seven to ten years old. Positioning of the players to which skill level was done by their coaches. Game performance was videotaped, and measures of skill execution and cognitive components were developed from observational analysis. Throwing accuracy, fielding, throwing force, batting contact, batting average, and catching are all measures of skill execution. Decision making and positioning are cognitive components. All players would play under the same or similar conditions, this included playing against the same players, use the same field, hit the same pitchers, use the same game rules and be instructed by the same people.
Position, decision-making, and throwing force scores were all calculated the same. It was by dividing the number of correct responses by the number of opportunities for each category. Catching and...