ABSTRACT
The authors investigated the effect of ball velocity and walking direction on children's adherence to the constant bearing angle (CBA) strategy. Children (N = 20) approached a moving ball to manually intercept it at a predefined target area. Results revealed that 10- to 12-year-olds adhered more than 5- to 7-year-olds to the CBA strategy. Younger children deviated more than older children from smaller angles of approach and lower ball velocities. The present findings suggest that younger children have difficulty adjusting to task requirements because they fail to couple walking velocity with ball velocity. The improvement seen with increasing age suggests that compliance with the CBA strategy may be attributed to older children's enhanced coincidence anticipation.
Subject(s)
Child Development , Motion Perception/physiology , Probability Learning , Psychomotor Performance/physiology , Space Perception/physiology , Spatial Behavior/physiology , Adaptation, Physiological , Analysis of Variance , Child , Child, Preschool , Female , Humans , Locomotion , Male , Mathematics , Reaction Time/physiology , Sports , WalkingABSTRACT
The experiment investigates the effect of ball velocity and walking direction on the adherence to the bearing angle (BA) strategy in adults. Adult participants (N=12) approached a moving ball in order to manually intercept it at a predefined target area. Results revealed that during locomotion the BA strategy was implemented, but on reaching the point of interception, this strategy broke down and the BA strategy of the wrist compensated for the movement requirements relative to the ball velocity and approach angle. Larger deviations from the BA occurred when the angle of approach was decreased and when the ball velocity increased. When the BA strategy was adhered to, postural adjustments were reduced. Increased movements occurred in a proximal-distal direction with an increasing approach angle and a faster ball velocity.
