Quiet Eye Facilitates Sensorimotor Preprograming and Online Control of Precision Aiming in Golf Putting
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Cogn Process (2017) 18:47–54 DOI 10.1007/s10339-016-0783-4 RESEARCH REPORT Quiet eye facilitates sensorimotor preprograming and online control of precision aiming in golf putting 1 1 1 1 Joe Causer • Spencer J. Hayes • James M. Hooper • Simon J. Bennett Received: 21 December 2015 / Accepted: 28 October 2016 / Published online: 7 November 2016 Ó The Author(s) 2016. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com Abstract An occlusion protocol was used to elucidate the Introduction respective roles of preprograming and online control dur- ing the quiet eye period of golf putting. Twenty-one novice Vickers (1992) was one of the first to examine expertise golfers completed golf putts to 6-ft and 11-ft targets under differences in gaze control during a golf putting task. Low- full vision or with vision occluded on initiation of the handicap golfers were reported to use a strategy consisting backswing. Radial error (RE) was higher, and quiet eye of longer fixations on the ball, with fewer fixations on the was longer, when putting to the 11-ft versus 6-ft target, and putting surface or club. Conversely, the high-handicap in the occluded versus full vision condition. Quiet eye golfers fixated all the locations a similar amount. Further- durations, as well as preprograming, online and dwell more, when comparing shot success, a stable fixation on durations, were longer in low-RE compared to high-RE the ball during the swing, and then on the putting surface trials. The preprograming component of quiet eye was after contact, was associated with an increased probability significantly longer in the occluded vision condition, of success. In a follow-up study, Vickers (2004) found that whereas the online and dwell components were signifi- poor putters had a variable gaze pattern relative to the ball, cantly longer in the full vision condition. These findings whereas good putters kept a stable fixation on the back of demonstrate an increase in preprograming when vision is the ball during the swing, along with a more stable and occluded. However, this was not sufficient to overcome the deliberate scan path between the ball and the hole. Taken need for online visual control during the quiet eye period. together, these data provide evidence that a long, These findings suggest the quiet eye period is composed of stable fixation during the golf putt increases the probability preprograming and online control elements; however, of success (Vickers 2007). online visual control of action is critical to performance. Based on the work above and other seminal research on the role of gaze behaviours in aiming tasks (Vickers Keywords Preprograming Á Online control Á Feedback Á 1996a), Vickers coined the term ‘quiet eye period’ to Aiming Á Perceptual-cognitive skill describe the final fixation on a specific location before initiation of action (for a review see: Wilson et al. 2015). In golf putting, it is thought that an effective quiet eye period consists of: (1) a single, long, continuous fixation on the back of the ball; (2) an onset before backswing; (3) a Handling editor: Joan Vickers (University of Calgary); Reviewers: continued fixation through the backstroke, forestroke and Samuel Vine (University of Exeter), Joan Vickers (University of Calgary). contact; (4) a dwell time after contact (Vickers 2007; Vine et al. 2013). It is suggested that prioritising task-relevant & Joe Causer visuo-spatial information for skill execution during the [email protected] final fixation leads to a reduction in cortical resources associated with analytical processing and attention to 1 Research Institute of Sport and Exercise Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, Byrom Street, Liverpool, irrelevant sensory cues (Vickers 2009). As such, the quiet Merseyside L3 3AF, UK eye period appears to functionally represent the time spent 123 48 Cogn Process (2017) 18:47–54 processing visual information responsible for motor control to regulate actions requiring a high level of precision (Vickers 1996c). (Craig et al. 2000; Oudejans et al. 2002). Based on these Since its conception, the quiet eye period has been studies, it would seem advantageous in golf putting to predominantly associated with the preprograming of action maintain fixation on the ball as this facilitates processing of (Vickers 2011), which in golf putting would equate to visual information from the putter as it is moved away movement organisation occurring before the initiation of (backswing) and then towards (foreswing) the ball. the putter swing without visual or proprioceptive feedback A study by Vine et al. (2015) examined the contribution influencing the action (Vickers 2007). In support of the of preprograming and online control during the quiet eye preprograming hypothesis, it has been shown that experts period in golf putting by occluding early or late visual exhibit a prolonged quiet eye period and greater cortical information. The authors found that providing participants activation in the right-central region (i.e. Bereitschaftspo- with only early visual information (vision occluded on tential) compared to non-experts (Mann et al. 2011). The initiation of backswing) led to a significant detriment in suggestion is that prolonged fixations, particularly during performance, even when quiet eye durations were pre- the final fixation that defines the quiet eye period, permit served. Conversely, when only late visual information the detailed processing of information and cortical organ- (vision occluded from initial putter placement until initia- isation necessary for preprograming effective motor per- tion of backswing, when vision was returned) was avail- formance. As a result, longer quiet eye durations have been able, there were no deficits in performance. These data associated with more efficient and less variable movement support the role of online control during the quiet eye kinematics that require fewer online modifications (Causer period and also provide evidence against a strict interpre- et al. 2010, 2011). Further support for the preprograming tation of quiet eye in which only preprograming of action is hypothesis is provided by Williams et al. (2002), who performed. However, it remains unknown whether the examined the relationship between quiet eye and task effects of occlusion can be negated if participants know in complexity in billiards. Based on the widely accepted advance what visual information will be available, thus principle that more complex or difficult motor responses providing the opportunity to strategically adapt phases of (e.g. aiming to a far vs. near target, Fitts 1954) require both the quiet eye period and movement control. For longer preprograming time (Henry 1980; Klapp 1977), example, it has been shown that in manual aiming move- Williams et al. (2002) reported longer quiet eye durations ments, when an individual knows they will receive visual for more complex shots, thus implying the role of pro- feedback they reduce movement planning (preprograming) gramming during the quiet eye period. time as they prepare to utilise vision for online control While not intending to downplay the role of prepro- (Hansen et al. 2006; Khan et al. 2002). graming during the quiet eye period, there is some sug- The aim of the current study was to further examine the gestion that the process of online visual control might also underlying processes of the quiet eye period by manipu- be involved (Wilson et al. 2015). In golf putting, online lating the duration that visual information was avail- control equates to the use of visual and/or proprioceptive able for during the online control phase in a precision feedback to adjust the movement after initiation (Vickers aiming task. Participants were required to complete a golf 2007). This idea is not new, but has received very little putting task to two different distances under two vision research attention. Vickers (1992) found that on successful conditions: full vision and occluded vision. In the occluded shots, and for skilled golfers, the final fixation extended vision condition, a liquid crystal (LC) panel turned opaque through the foreswing and beyond contact. Subsequently, it on initiation of the backswing, thus removing vision of the has been found that a quiet eye dwell time of around moving putter and stationary ball. The LC panel returned to 250 ms, which is the period from putter–ball contact until the transparent state upon ball contact, thus providing gaze offset, is most effective for a successful golf putt vision of the ball trajectory. Two distances were used to (Vickers 2007). More evidence of online control was determine the influence of complexity on preprograming reported by Vine et al. (2013), who found that unsuccessful and whether it is influenced by the lack on online visual golf putts had a reduced quiet eye duration between initi- feedback. ation of backswing and ball contact (QE-online), as well as Based on previous research, it was predicted that overall from putter–ball contact to gaze offset (QE-dwell); no quiet eye duration would be longer during putts with low changes in quiet eye duration during the period before radial error (low-RE), compared to putts with high radial backswing (QE-preprograming) were found. The implica- error (high-RE) (Vickers 2007; Wilson et al. 2015). For the tion is that the change of gaze location was detrimental to subcomponents of the quiet eye period, no outcome-related online visual control processes involved after movement differences were predicted for QE-preprograming (Vine initiation. Such results are consistent with the importance et al. 2013), whereas longer durations of QE-online (Vine of online control and utilisation of late visual information et al. 2013) and QE-dwell (Vickers 1992, 2004, 2007; Vine 123 Cogn Process (2017) 18:47–54 49 Fig. 1 Schematic representation of experimental set-up et al. 2013) were predicted for low-RE compared to high- Figure 1 shows the experimental set-up.