The Different Point of View–A Visual-Spatial Taxonomy for Sports

Abstract

Sports taxonomies typically classify specific motor skills and types of sport based on the functional demands of the particular movement task. The aim of this paper is therefore to develop a differentiated taxonomy for sports with regard to their specific visual-spatial demands. Fundamental to the reasonable progression of this taxonomy is the established interaction of motor and cognitive and in particular motor and visual-spatial abilities. Based on an up-to-date theoretically motivated typology, which categorizes visual-spatial abilities in extrinsic-static, extrinsic-dynamic, intrinsic-static and intrinsicdynamic abilities, a visual-spatial classification of sports is presented. Subsequently, different tests for the acquisition of visual-spatial abilities and thus a possibility to match types of sport to the taxonomy are presented. Finally an overview of various forms of visual-spatial training provides an insight into the benefit of such a classification system in sports practice.