Eye quietness and quiet eye in expert and novice golf performance: an electrooculographic analysis

Quiet eye (QE) is the final ocular fixation on the target of an action (e.g., the ball in golf putting). Camerabased eye-tracking studies have consistently found longer QE durations in experts than novices; however, mechanisms underlying QE are not known. To offer a new perspective we examined the feasibility of measuring the QE using electrooculography (EOG) and developed an index to assess ocular activity across time: eye quietness (EQ). Ten expert and ten novice golfers putted 60 balls to a 2.4 m distant hole. Horizontal EOG (2ms resolution) was recorded from two electrodes placed on the outer sides of the eyes. QE duration was measured using a EOG voltage threshold and comprised the sum of the pre-movement and post-movement initiation components. EQ was computed as the standard deviation of the EOG in 0.5 s bins from –4 to +2 s, relative to backswing initiation: lower values indicate less movement of the eyes, hence greater quietness. Finally, we measured club-ball address and swing durations. T-tests showed that total QE did not differ between groups (p = .31); however, experts had marginally shorter pre-movement QE (p = .08) and longer post-movement QE (p < .001) than novices. A group × time ANOVA revealed that experts had less EQ before backswing initiation and greater EQ after backswing initiation (p = .002). QE durations were inversely correlated with EQ from –1.5 to 1 s (rs = –.48 - –.90, ps = .03 - .001). Experts had longer swing durations than novices (p = .01) and, importantly, swing durations correlated positively with post-movement QE (r = .52, p = .02) and negatively with EQ from 0.5 to 1s (r = –.63, p = .003). This study demonstrates the feasibility of measuring ocular activity using EOG and validates EQ as an index of ocular activity. Its findings challenge the dominant perspective on QE and provide new evidence that expert-novice differences in ocular activity may reflect differences in the kinematics of how experts and novices execute skills

Carbohydrate-electrolyte drink ingestion and skill performance in tennis

ABSTRACT Aim: To examine the effect of ingesting a carbohydrate-electrolyte drink (CHO-E) compared to a flavoured matched placebo electrolyte drink (PL) on maintenance of skill and performance over 2 hours of indoor tennis match play. Method: Twenty-two nationally ranked tennis players (15 male, 7 female; mean (SD) height 177 (8) cm, weight 69.2 (9.5) kg) reported to the test centre on four separate occasions, with the first two visits for screening and familiarisation. The final two visits were main trials and participants attended the lab 3 hours post-prandial for baseline nude body mass and blood sample collection. They then performed a standardised warm-up and pre-match skill test, a 2 hour tennis match with ingestion of either CHO-E (Lucozade Sport, GlaxoSmithKline Nutritional Healthcare) or PL beverage administered as a bolus volume (5ml/kg) prior to warm-up, and subsequent volumes (3 ml/kg) every 20 minutes. A final post-match skill test was performed and nude body mass recorded. During the trials, participant’s heart rate and movement intensity were monitored, and the match was recorded using a video camera for later match analysis. Results: There was no difference in environmental conditions or hydration status measures between trials and no difference in skill test scores pre and post-match or between trials at each of these times. Participants on the CHO-E trial had elevated blood glucose concentration throughout the match and also reported feeling more energetic (general activation) and more tense (high activation) one hour into the match compared to baseline, which was not observed in the placebo trial (time x trial interaction p<0.05). In addition, accelerometer data showed participants on the CHO-E trial spent more time in moderate intensity activity and less time in low intensity activity than on PL. Match analysis data revealed that ingestion of the CHO-E beverage significantly increased overall percentage of successful serves (mean ± SD = 68 ± 7% for CHO-E compared to 66 ± 7% for PL; p<0.05), in particular first serves (65 ± 9% for CHO-E, 61 ± 7% for PL; p<0.01) and serves to the advantage side (70 ± 9% for CHO-E, 66 ± 7% for PL; p<0.05) over the duration of the whole match. Furthermore, a significant increase in return success rates was observed during the second set of the match (p<0.05) on the CHO-E trial. However, performance improvements on the serve and return were found not to be associated with the increase in blood glucose nor player ability. Conclusions: CHO-E drink ingestion during a tennis match can contribute towards maintaining performance by increasing overall percentage of successful serves and increasing return success rates. These changes may be linked to increased perceived activation, and increased intensity of movement sustained on court. However, the improvements in serve and return success rates are not associated with player ability or glucose elevation, but may reflect a more generic central brain mediated effect of carbohydrate ingestion on skill. This work was supported by GlaxoSmithKline Nutritional Healthcare

13th International Conference on Kinanthropology. Sport and Quality of Life

The book of abstracts of the 13th Conference of Sport and Quality of Life 2022 gathers the abstracts of all the oral and poster presenters and keynote speakers. The conference is divided into sections – analysis of human movement; sport training; healthy lifestyle, active aging, nutrition and regeneration in sport; sport and social sciences; sports medicine; and the poster section

Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Kinanthropology

The 11th International Conference on Kinantropology was held on the Nov 29 – Dec 1, 2017 in Brno and was organized by the Faculty of Sports Studies, Masaryk University and the Faculty of Kinesiology, University of Zagreb. This year was divided into several themes: sports medicine, sport and social science, sport training, healthy lifestyle and healthy ageing, sports management, analysis of human movement. Part of the conference was also a symposium Atletika and Ortoreha that gathered specialists in physiotherapy

Assessment of Physical Fitness and Training Effect in Individual Sports

Physical fitness is the basis for the success of players in sports, and its monitoring makes it possible to assess the effectiveness of training and identify possible errors. During training, thanks to the use of control results, these activities are modified, which better prepares players for competition. This Special Issue, entitled "Assessment of Physical Fitness and the Effect of Training in Individual Sports" presents the results of coaching control and the results of monitoring progression in training, as well as an assessment of the physical fitness of athletes practicing individual sports

ISBS 2021 CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS TITLE AND FOREWARD

The ISBS is an international society totally dedicated to biomechanics in sports, whose primary purposes are: To provide a forum for the exchange of ideas for sports biomechanics researchers, coaches and teachers. To bridge the gap between researchers and practitioners. To gather and disseminate information and materials on biomechanics in sports. The conference planned for Canberra, Australia did not go ahead in a face-to-face capacity due to COVID-19. The conference was instead delivered fully online. These proceedings are the accepted papers for the online conference. Papers underwent a double blinded review process. Each paper in these proceedings has been reviewed by at least two members of the scientific committee. The scientific committee comprises the current members of the board of directors of the ISBS and the keynote speakers for the upcoming conference