M. Laurent et al., THE CONTROL AND COORDINATION OF ONE-HANDED CATCHING - THE EFFECT OF TEMPORAL CONSTRAINTS, Experimental Brain Research, 101(2), 1994, pp. 314-322
The aim of the experiment was to identify the control mechanisms invol
ved in a goal-directed task by manipulating the temporal constraints.
Subjects were required to catch, with one hand, table tennis balls pro
jected by a ball-projection machine under five temporal conditions (ba
ll speed ranged from 5.7 to 9 m/s, giving rise to night times of 550-3
50 ms). By means of three-dimensional kinematics analysis the followin
g results were obtained, which are some spatio-temporal adaptations of
the catching movement to the increase of temporal constraints: (1) a
decrease in movement time, (2) an increase in the straightness of the
trajectory of the wrist, and (3) a shift backwards of the place of bal
l-hand contact while (4) the grasping time was kept constant. Moreover
, as a result of increasing temporal constraints, the acceleration pha
se of the transportation component was kept constant while the deceler
ation phase was progressively decreased and nearly suppressed. Further
, an increased correlation of the initial direction of the transportat
ion component with the initial direction of the ball path was found. T
hese findings show some spatio-temporal adaptations of the catching mo
vement when the time available is manipulated. They also support the c
ontention of a shift in the control mechanisms involved in one-handed
catching facing different temporal constraints.