Dr. Khaled Alsharji’s (Ph.D., ’14) dissertation research will be published in the Journal of Sports Sciences, a publication of  the British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences.

Alsharji’s dissertation, “Perceptual Training Effects on Anticipation of Direct & Deceptive 7-Meter Throws in Handball,” examined the effectiveness of perceptual training on the performance of team handball goalkeepers when anticipating the direction of “direct” 7-m throws as well as “deceptive” 7-m throws. The results of the study suggest that perceptual training can improve the goalkeepers’ performance not only when anticipating direct, but also when anticipating deceptive throws. The study confirms that while anticipating deception in handball is a challenging task for goalkeepers, task-specific perceptual training can minimize its effect and improve performance.

Professor Michael Wade, Ph.D., was Alsharji’s advisor and is co-author of the article. Alsharji is currently an assistant professor  in the Department of Physical Education and Sport Science in the College of Basic Education at the Public Authority for Applied Education and Training