\u27Reading the Play\u27 Situational Awareness and Performance of Australian Football League Players

Many high-performing Australian Football (AF) players appear to be better at \u27reading the play\u27 than other AF players. One cognitive capacity that appears to be similar in nature to \u27reading the play\u27, and that has been associated with the performance of elite pilots, is Situational Awareness (SA). The principal focus of this study was to examine the extent to which individual differences in an AF -specific measure of SA and the PC-based WOMBATTM test of SA were associated with individual differences in AF player performance, within the context of physiological and psychomotor capacities, using Multiple Regression Analysis. The results provide preliminary support for the notion that cognitive abilities such as SA are associated with individual differences in player performance in AF. There was a consistent association between the AF-specific measure of SA and performance in AF. However, the association between the PC-based measure of SA and performance in AF was less than clear. It would also appear that the association between SA and performance in AF should be considered within the context of individual differences in physiological and psychomotor capacities. While the research is still at an exploratory stage, the investigation of the relationship between SA and performance in AF has important implications for the understanding and assessment of cognitive processes in AF