Influence of cerebral lateralization on shooting accuracy performance of field hockey players

The aim of this study is to examine the effect of cerebral lateralization on drag-flick and shot performance in hockey. For this purpose, 35 elite hockey players participated in the study as subjects. After the lateralization test was applied, the subjects were divided into three groups as dominant right hand, dominant left hand and using both hands, and then shot and drag flick tests were applied to the subjects to determine the effect of lateralization on hockey skills between the groups. The obtained data were analyzed in SPSS 22.0 program. After testing for normality and homogeneity, independent samples t-test for two groups, one-way analysis of variance and LSD correction were performed for multiple groups. When the results were examined, it was seen that the variables of being a left-handed person in the family and sports age did not have a significant effect on the shooting performance, drag flick performance, lateralization coefficient and the number of balls thrown to the right/left/middle parts of the goal (p>0.05). However, it was determined that hand preference had a significant effect on shooting performance, drag flick performance, lateralization coefficient and the number of balls thrown in the middle of the goal in favor of right and left hand dominant (p<0.05). As a result, it can be said that the effects of laterization are in favor of the dominant hand in hockey players regardless of whether they are right or left, and individuals using both hands perform negatively in hitting advantageous points.