Our ability to attend to the environment is not symmetrical. Rather, our attention in space is characterized by two biases, one operating in the horizontal plane, which draws attention leftward, and the other operating in the vertical plane, which draws attention upward. These biases are readily observed in controlled laboratory settings and also impact everyday activities. They also have pronounced effects on the way athletes perform in a variety of sports. This chapter first reviews the literature on asymmetries in spatial attention and its neurological basis before reviewing literature which shows the way these biases affect the performance of athletes in sports including golf, Australian rules football, soccer, baseball, and archery.
