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

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.

Movement Prototypes in a Complex Teamgym Gymnastics Technique on the Vaulting Table and Their Relationship with Judges’ Scores

“…During this phase gymnasts start to approach an optimal body position to contact the mini trampoline, so the 1st flight/3rd phase (i.e., from mini trampoline take-off to the initial contact with vaulting table) will be a lower parabola with a minimal loss of velocity and greater energy and velocity [ 37 ]. This optimal body position is conditioned by the approach run characteristics as velocity [ 38 , 39 ], individual characteristics, namely, height [ 40 ], strength [ 40 ], power, flexibility, biological development, visual perception and strategy [ 4 , 15 , 41 ] and other constraints, which in practice may reveal a larger variability and adjustment of movement, consequently resulting in the higher number of clusters observed. Figure 5 demonstrates that four clusters (two, three, four and six) with different movement prototypes for phase one have very good average scores (≥9.000 points), reinforcing the acceptance of an optimal and needed movement variability, without considerably reducing score.…”

Effects of Acute Physical Fatigue on Gaze Behavior and Performance During a Badminton Game

“…Studies have shown that the number and duration of fixations (Aziz, 2017) and their locations (Barreto et al, 2021) are task and context specific. Despite this, 69% of eye tracking studies have been conducted in laboratory conditions (Abernethy et al, 1993).…”

“…Behavior can be characterized by variables such as the duration and number of fixations. Studies have demonstrated that gaze behaviors differ according to the study conditions, for example in representative task designs vs. well-controlled laboratory experiments (Barreto et al, 2021), and that behavior must be evaluated in real settings involving a variety of situations (Brenner and Smeets, 2017) which are ecologically valid (Casanova et al, 2013). Furthermore, gaze behavior can only be fully understood if it is related to performance (Chia et al, 2017).…”