Saccadic eye movements and finger reaction times of table tennis players of different levels

Building upon the finding that athletes have faster saccadic eye movements than controls ( Lenoir et al., Percept Motor Skills 2000; 91: 546-552), the aim of this study was to compare prosaccadic and antisaccadic eye movement s in table tennis players of different levels. Saccadic latency, error rate , and reaction time on a visuomotor task ( key press) were measured. Saccad ic latency and error rate did not decrease with an increasing level of expe rtise. Finger reaction times correlated positively with antisaccadic latenc ies, but not with prosaccadic latencies. It is concluded that in an active population, saccadic performance does not allow the discrimination between recreational, moderate, and top players because of a ceiling effect. The re lation between eye and finger movements is discussed in the framework of co mmon brain areas during movement preparation.