Effect of Manipulating Advanced Kinematic Information on Hitting Movement Prediction, Perception, and Action

Accelerating Visual Anticipation in Sport Through Temporal Occlusion Training: A Meta-Analysis

BACKGROUND

The video-based temporal occlusion paradigm has been consistently used in visual anticipation sport research.

OBJECTIVE

This meta-analysis investigated the magnitude to which video-based temporal occlusion training could improve anticipation skill with transfer to representative laboratory and field tasks.

METHODS

As there are considerably fewer anticipation training than performance studies, the meta-analysis included 12 intervention studies with 25 effect sizes where video simulation and/or field-based tests were used. The Downs and Black checklist adapted for sports science research was used to assess methodological quality of the included studies. Decision time and accuracy of anticipation were the outcome measures because both are relevant to sports skills. The changes in these measures between experimental and control groups from baseline to the transfer test context were used to calculate the magnitude of the training effect.

RESULTS

Findings revealed a significant training effect, including a large meta-analytic effect size, and no difference in training benefit across video and field-based transfer tests. Publication bias analyses were inconclusive, likely due to the small number of available studies.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings are evidence that the temporal occlusion paradigm is an effective method to improve visual anticipation skill across representative perceptual and perceptual-motor transfer tests. The theoretical implication based upon the two-stage model of visual anticipation is that temporal occlusion training can improve use of early information for body positioning by the performer, which could in turn lead to improved execution of the skill goal.

Virtual reality perceptual training can improve the temporal discrimination ability of swinging during softball batting

Perception and action uncoupling in fastball sports anticipatory training is often criticized. Nevertheless, perception-only training offers distinct advantages, such as flexibility concerning time, place, and injury limitations. Therefore, the effectiveness of this training approach warrants evaluation. This study developed a virtual reality (VR) training system based on the idea that the two visual pathways in the brain are associated with visual information attributes, rather than perception or action. A key feature of this study's perception-only training was its presentation of not only the opponent's kinematics but also the ball's flight information (the attributes that guide hitting) to train the visual system necessary for real situations. Seventeen female softball batters were assigned to two groups: a training group (N = 9) and a control group (N = 8). Only the training group underwent the VR anticipatory skill training to discriminate the different ball speeds. Both groups completed a perception test and an action test on the VR during the pre- and post-training periods. The perception test assessed response accuracy (RA) in discriminating ball speed, and the action test assessed the temporal difference in swing onset (delta onset). Comparison of these two outcome variables between groups revealed that perception-only training improved both perceptual and action responses. This study demonstrated the effectiveness of perception-only training and emphasized the need for its thoughtful utilization and design.

Interpersonal coordination analysis in bat-and-ball sports under a real game situation: Asymmetric interaction and delayed coupling

This study investigated the interpersonal coordination between the pitcher and the batter in bat-and-ball sports. Although the importance of interpersonal coordination is widely accepted in many sports, no studies have investigated it in bat-and-ball sports because the dominant task constraints surrounding the interaction between pitcher and batter make it difficult to apply conventional analytic techniques. To address the issue, this study proposes a new analytical framework to investigate interpersonal coordination in bat-and-ball sports under a real game situation with two main characteristics: asymmetric interaction and delayed coupling. First, the dynamic time warping technique was used to evaluate the stability of the head movement pattern of the pitcher and batter, and cross-correlation analysis was used to quantify the temporal relationship between them. We found that the head movement pattern of batters was significantly more unstable than that of pitchers, and approximately 60% of the variance of the change in the head movement pattern of batters could be explained by that of the pitchers. Moreover, expert batters followed a pitcher's movements with a specific time delay of approximately 250 ms. These findings highlight the characteristics of interpersonal coordination in bat-and-ball sports: the pitcher can make a pre-patterned stable motion, whereas the batter needs to follow and adjust their movement to it. Although the effects of prediction ability need to be investigated to understand its detailed mechanism, the contribution of this study is that it revealed the existence of the interpersonal coordination between the pitcher and batter of bat-and-ball sports under a real game situation.

Reliance upon contextual information can impede visual anticipation

This study investigated whether skilled batsmen in a state cricket pathway could anticipate ball types when congruency of field-placings was manipulated with a bowler's action. Twenty-four male cricket batsmen were recruited who had played either first-class cricket (n = 6), were part of under 17 (n = 8) or under 19 (n = 10) state cricket squads. Participants completed a video-based temporal occlusion test where they were required to anticipate ball types from a swing bowler. In condition one, contextual field-placing information was presented to be congruent with the delivery type and bowler's action, whilst in condition two it was incongruent. Results did not reveal skill level differences across conditions for anticipation. In the congruent condition, all skill groups predicted above the chance level at the beginning and end of the bowler's delivery stride. In the incongruent condition, first-class players predicted above chance at the beginning of the bowler's delivery stride, and to a higher magnitude above chance compared to other skill groups at ball release. Under 17 and 19 players could not predict above chance at the start of the bowler's delivery stride with their magnitude of prediction lower than first-class players at ball release. Results indicate skilled batsmen find it challenging to integrate contextual and kinematic information to anticipate. This is likely due to greater emphasis placed upon contextual information in part supplied by data analysts. Findings have theoretical and practical implications respectively for lower body positioning for bat-ball interception and perceptual training to improve pick-up of kinematic cues.HIGHLIGHTSSkilled batsmen in a high-performance state cricket pathway could integrate congruent field-placings and bowler kinematics to anticipate ball types.First-class batsmen could integrate incongruent field-placing information to the start, but not the end, of the bowler's delivery action to anticipate ball types.Under 17 and 19 batsmen could not integrate incongruent field-placings to bowler kinematics to anticipate ball types.Skilled batsmen who cannot use kinematic information to anticipate ball types should be given visual-perceptual simulation training to accelerate performance.

Optimal integration of kinematic and ball-flight information when perceiving the speed of a moving ball

In order to intercept a moving target such as a baseball with high spatio-temporal accuracy, the perception of the target's movement speed is important for estimating when and where the target will arrive. However, it is unclear what sources of information are used by a batter to estimate ball speed and how those sources of information are integrated to facilitate successful interception. In this study, we examined the degree to which kinematic and ball-flight information are integrated when estimating ball speed in baseball batting. Thirteen university level baseball batters performed a ball-speed evaluation task in a virtual environment where they were required to determine which of two comparison baseball pitches (i.e., a reference and comparison stimuli) they perceived to be faster. The reference and comparison stimuli had the same physical ball speed, but with different pitching movement speeds in the comparison stimuli. The task was performed under slow (125 km/h) and fast (145 km/h) ball-speed conditions. Results revealed that the perceived ball-speed was influenced by the movement speed of the pitcher's motion, with the influence of the pitcher's motion more pronounced in the fast ball-speed condition when ball-flight information was presumably less reliable. Moreover, exploratory analyses suggested that the more skilled batters were increasingly likely to integrate the two sources of information according to their relative reliability when making judgements of ball speed. The results provide important insights into how skilled performers may make judgements of speed and time to contact, and further enhance our understanding of how the ability to make those judgements might improve when developing expertise in hitting.