Temporal optimization of movement regulations in ball sports experts revealed by a visuo-manual pursuit task

The present work focuses on the effect of expertise in ball sports on the perceptual-motor processes. Non-Experts, Experts and Super-Experts were evaluated through a visuo-manual tracking task in a 2D environment, with more or less predictable trajectories (predictable bounces and unpredictable deviations). The results showed that this task, as schematic as it may be, allows the discrimination of expertise in ball sports. Moreover, the multiple regression analysis revealed that the performance could be explained by the frequency of the regulations and the temporal delays to perform them. Our results highlight the optimized perception-action coupling of experts.