Commit to your putting stroke: exploring the impact of quiet eye duration and neural activity on golf putting performance.

Autor:	Carey LM; Health and Life Sciences, University of the West of Scotland, Glasgow, United Kingdom., Alexandrou G; Institute of Social Marketing and Health, University of Stirling, Stirling, United Kingdom., Ladouce S; Brain & Cognition, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium., Kourtis D; Psychology and Natural Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling, United Kingdom., Berchicci M; Department of Psychological, Health and Territorial Sciences, G. d'Annunzio University of Chieti and Pescara, Chieti, Italy., Hunter AM; Department of Sport Science, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, United Kingdom., Donaldson DI; School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, United Kingdom.
Jazyk:	angličtina
Zdroj:	Frontiers in psychology [Front Psychol] 2024 Jul 11; Vol. 15, pp. 1424242. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Jul 11 (Print Publication: 2024).
DOI:	10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1424242
Abstrakt:	Introduction: There is a growing interest in characterizing the cognitive-motor processes that underlie superior performance in highly skilled athletes. The aim of this study was to explore neural markers of putting performance in highly skilled golfers by recording mobile EEG (electroencephalogram) during the pre-shot period. Methods: Twenty-eight right-handed participants (20 males) with a mean age of 24.2 years (± 6.4) and an average handicap of +1.7 (± 6.4) completed a testing session. Following the warm-up, participants completed 140 putts from a distance of 8ft (2.4m), with putts taken from 5 different positions. While putting, participants wore an eye tracker and a gel-based EEG system with 32 electrodes. Time and frequency domain features of the EEG signals were extracted to characterize Movement-Related Cortical Potentials (MRCP) and rhythmic modulations of neural activity in theta, alpha, sensorimotor and beta frequency bands associated with putting performance. Results: Eye-tracking data demonstrate that mean Quiet Eye durations are not a reliable marker of expertise as the same duration was found for both successful and unsuccessful putts. Following rigorous data processing data from 12 participants (8 males, mean age 21.6 years ± 5.4, average handicap +1.5 ± 4.4) were included in the EEG analysis. MRCP analysis revealed performance-based differences, with unsuccessful putts having a greater negative amplitude in comparison to successful putts. Time frequency analysis of the EEG data revealed that successful putts exhibit distinct neural activity profiles compared to unsuccessful ones. For successful putts, greater suppression of beta was present in the central region prior to the putt. By contrast, increased frontal theta power was present for unsuccessful putts immediately before the putt (consistent with hesitation and the need for motor plan adjustments prior to execution). Discussion: We propose that neural activity may provide plausible insights into the mechanisms behind why identical QE durations can lead to both success and failure. From an applied perspective, this study highlights the merits of a multi-measure approach to gain further insights into performance differences within highly skilled golfers. We discuss considerations for future research and solutions to address the challenges related to the complexities of collecting clean EEG signals within naturalistic sporting contexts. Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. (Copyright © 2024 Carey, Alexandrou, Ladouce, Kourtis, Berchicci, Hunter and Donaldson.)
Databáze:	MEDLINE
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