Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/1893/36390
Appears in Collections:Psychology Journal Articles
Peer Review Status: Refereed
Title: Commit to your putting stroke: exploring the impact of quiet eye duration and neural activity on golf putting performance
Author(s): Carey, Laura M
Alexandrou, Georgia
Ladouce, Simon
Kourtis, Dimitrios
Berchicci, Marika
Hunter, Angus M
Donaldson, David I
Contact Email: georgia.alexandrou@stir.ac.uk
Keywords: golf putting
expertise
quiet eye
EEG
performance
Issue Date: 11-Jul-2024
Date Deposited: 16-Oct-2024
Citation: Carey LM, Alexandrou G, Ladouce S, Kourtis D, Berchicci M, Hunter AM & Donaldson DI (2024) Commit to your putting stroke: exploring the impact of quiet eye duration and neural activity on golf putting performance. <i>Frontiers in Psychology</i>, 15. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1424242
Abstract: 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.
DOI Link: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1424242
Rights: Copyright © 2024 Carey, Alexandrou, Ladouce, Kourtis, Berchicci, Hunter and Donaldson. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Licence URL(s): http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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