Background: Ageing leads to functional changes in body systems. Purpose: This study sought to examine the age-based differences in temporal patterning, temporal variability and temporal regularity of tennis service in older adults. Research design: cross-sectional study. Study sample: Participants of this study were volunteers from young (n = 10) and older (n = 11) adults who were self-defined as non-competitive, participating in tennis at a recreational (sub-elite) level for 2-3 days per week regularly. Data collection: They were asked to perform 20 trials of the same serves (flat, slice or top-spin) on a regular size court. The timing (duration) of the serve action was recorded and analysed, using a high-speed digital camera. Participants performed the tennis serves during their routine training sessions on a tennis court. They undertook a structured general (10min) and a specific warm-up routine (10min) before performing services. There was a 30-second rest period between trials. Results: Findings showed that there were no statistically significant differences between the two groups in temporal patterning, whereas the younger group performed the serves with higher variability and regularity/consistency than the older adults in some phases of the action. Conclusion: Older adults who participate recreationally in sports are able to preserve some functional organisation of perceptual-motor capacities, such as timing, due to long-term practice effects. The findings illustrate how sport participation may help maintain functional movement organisation following ageing to mitigate age-related declines in perception and action in late adulthood.
The aim of this study was to examine whether perceptual variables can provide informational constraints for the goalkeepers to intercept the ball successfully in 1v1 dyads. Video images of 42 actions (1v1 in direct shots) were selected randomly from different matches and divided into conceded goals (n = 20) and saved actions (n = 22) to investigate interceptive actions of 20 goalkeepers in the English Premier League in season 2013-2014. Time to Contact (TTC) of the closing distance gap between shooter and goalkeeper was obtained by digitising actions in the 18-yard penalty box. Statistical analyses revealed that, in sequences of play resulting in an intercepted shot at goal, goalkeepers closed down outfield players in the X axis, whereas when a goal was conceded, there was a significantly delayed movement by goalkeepers toward the shooters in this plane. The results of canonical correlations showed that a decreasing distance between a shooter and goalkeeper, and accompanied reduction in relative interpersonal velocity followed a temporal pattern. Findings of this study showed how perception of key informational constraints on dyadic system relations, such as TTC, interpersonal distance and relative velocity, constrain elite goalkeepers' interceptive actions, playing an important role in successful performance.