How Task Constraints Influence the Gaze and Motor Behaviours of Elite-Level Gymnasts.

Joana Barreto,Andrew Mark Williams,Bradley Fawver,César Peixoto,Filipe Casanova

doi:10.3390/ijerph18136941

Abstract

Perception-action coupling is fundamental to effective motor behaviour in complex sports such as gymnastics. We examined the gaze and motor behaviours of 10 international level gymnasts when performing two skills on the mini-trampoline that matched the performance demands of elite competition. The presence and absence of a vaulting table in each skill served as a task-constraint factor, while we compared super-elite and elite groups. We measured visual search behaviours and kinematic variables during the approach run phase. The presence of a vaulting table influenced gaze behaviour only in the elite gymnasts, who showed significant differences in the time spent fixating on the mini-trampoline, when compared to super-elite gymnasts. Moreover, different approach run characteristics were apparent across the two different gymnastic tasks, irrespective of the level of expertise, and take-off velocity was influenced by the skill being executed across all gymnasts. Task constraints and complexity influence gaze behaviours differed across varying levels of expertise in gymnastics, even within a sample of international level athletes. It appears that the time spent fixating their gazes on the right areas of interest during the approach run is crucial to higher-level performance and therefore higher scores in competition, particularly on the mini-trampoline with vaulting table.

Highlights

Gymnasts perform highly complex skills on diverse apparatus, each with specific characteristics and requirements [1]
The mechanisms underlying performance are believed to vary by apparatus and skill complexity, notably with the inclusion of a vaulting table on mini-trampoline with vaulting table (MTVT) skills; our understanding of how task constraints influence gaze and motor behaviours during the approach run to the MT
We provide novel knowledge about how task constraints influence gaze and motor behaviours in elite, international level gymnasts when performing skills with similar technical structures but different levels of complexity

Summary

Introduction

Gymnasts perform highly complex skills on diverse apparatus, each with specific characteristics and requirements [1]. Within the Teamgym discipline, athletes perform skills using only the mini-trampoline (MT) and using the mini-trampoline with vaulting table (MTVT). Both skills require continuous perception-action coupling in order to visually regulate motor behaviour, during the approach run [2,3,4,5,6,7]. The mechanisms underlying performance are believed to vary by apparatus and skill complexity, notably with the inclusion of a vaulting table on MTVT skills; our understanding of how task constraints influence gaze and motor behaviours during the approach run to the MT and MTVT remains limited.

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Conclusion