Effects of traditional and immersive video on anticipation in cricket: A temporal occlusion study

Traditional videos are frequently employed to assess anticipation within interceptive sports. However, there are limitations associated with traditional videos which impair the degree of correspondence between training interventions and competitive performances. Virtual reality (VR) head-mounted displays allow for the presentation of immersive videos in 360-degrees that might offer a more effective means by which to train athletes. Nonetheless, there is a paucity of research examining the efficacy of immersive videos in a cricket context. The main purpose of the present investigation was to compare batters’ ability to accurately predict the landing location of deliveries, and assess their confidence in such predictions, when viewing traditional and immersive videos. We also examined the degree to which delivery style (i.e., bowling machine, throwdowns, spin, and pace bowling) impacted prediction accuracy and confidence scores. Forty deliveries (i.e., 10 per style; occluded at 120 ms post-ball release) were presented to amateur cricketers (N = 18) in traditional and immersive video conditions. Participants were required to anticipate the landing location of the ball and rate their prediction confidence after each delivery. Analyses indicated a main effect of viewing condition that applied only to prediction. Participants predicted the landing location of the ball with the greatest accuracy in the immersive video footage condition. There was a main effect of delivery style for confidence only, with higher scores observed in the throwdown, spin, and pace conditions, when compared to the bowling machine. Given the increasing rate at which VR is becoming accessible, immersive videos should be considered by sport psychologists as an effective means by which to assess anticipation in cricket.