Accuracy and latency of kicking foot identification for football opponents in relation to team familiarity and game experience

![CDATA[Although only 18% of Australian Football players are left-footed, defending against them requires different strategies to defending against right-footers. This research collected both discrimination and response latency data to examine the ability of football players to identify left- versus right-footed kickers. Players identified the kicking foot of teammates and opponents from static facial images presented in a randomised sequence. Accuracy, reaction time (RT), and discrimination capability (AUC) were examined. Participants were less accurate and had slower RTs when identifying the kicking foot of opposing team players compared to that of their teammates. Left-footed opponents who had played for longer were identified with greater accuracy and reduced RT, and participant game experience correlated with faster RT. Opposing team familiarity and game experience were both found to affect kicking foot identification in Australian Football and this finding has potential for training and performance benefits.]]