I like what Scott Atran has to say about this:

"By way of comparison, if you were to ask a physics class to construct a model of where a soccer ball will land after it has been kicked, the best class would give some very complex but only roughly accurate calculation (based on the leg's arc, the foot's position relative to the ball, the ball's size, weight, initial velocity and spin, gravity and drag, wind speed at the time, etc.). But were you to ask players on a soccer team, they'd likely tell you to just "keep your eye on the ball," meaning pay attention only to the ball's distance and angle relative to the observer. Can you bet which is the better predictor under the time constraints of a real match, the physics class or the soccer team?"

The rest here:

http://www.edge.org/discourse/bb.html#atran2