title: Postural Control During Cascade Ball Juggling: Effects of Expertise and Base of Support.
abstract: Cascade ball juggling is a complex perceptual motor skill which requires efficient postural stabilization. The aim of this study was to investigate effects of experience (expert and intermediate groups) and foot distance (wide and narrow stances) on body sway of jugglers during three ball cascade juggling. A total of 10 expert jugglers and 11 intermediate jugglers participated in this study. Participants stood barefoot on the force plate (some participants wore a gaze tracking system), with feet maintained in wide and narrow conditions and performed three 40-seconds trials of the three-ball juggling task. Dependent variables were sway mean velocity, amplitude, mean frequency, number of ball cycles, fixation number, mean duration and its variability, and area of gaze displacement. Two-way analyses of variance with factors for group and condition were conducted. Experts' body sway was characterized by lower velocity and smaller amplitude as compared to intermediate group. Interestingly, the more challenging (narrow) basis of support caused significant attenuation in body sway only for the intermediate group. These data suggest that expertise in cascade juggling was associated with refined postural control.
authors: Univ Estadual Paulista - UNESP, Faculty of Sciences, Department of Physical Education, Laboratory of Information, Vision, and Action, Bauru, SP, Brazil srodrigu@fc.unesp.br.
authors: Sérgio T
authors: ST
authors: Rodrigues
authors: Univ Estadual Paulista - UNESP, Faculty of Sciences, Department of Physical Education, Laboratory of Information, Vision, and Action, Bauru, SP, Brazil.
authors: Paula F
authors: PF
authors: Polastri
authors: Univ Estadual Paulista - UNESP, Faculty of Sciences, Department of Physical Education, Laboratory of Information, Vision, and Action, Bauru, SP, Brazil; Federal University of São Paulo, Paulista School of Medicine, Department of Informatics in Health, Laboratory of Ocular Bioengineering, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors: Gisele C
authors: GC
authors: Gotardi
authors: Newcastle University, Institute of Neuroscience, Movement Laboratory, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
authors: Stefane A
authors: SA
authors: Aguiar
authors: Univ Estadual Paulista - UNESP, Faculty of Sciences, Department of Physical Education, Laboratory of Information, Vision, and Action, Bauru, SP, Brazil.
authors: Marcelo R
authors: MR
authors: Mesaros
authors: Univ Estadual Paulista - UNESP, Biosciences Institute, Department of Physical Education, Posture and Gait Studies Laboratory, Rio Claro, SP, Brazil.
authors: Mayara B
authors: MB
authors: Pestana
authors: Univ Estadual Paulista - UNESP, Faculty of Sciences, Department of Physical Education, Human Movement Research Laboratory and Laboratory of Information, Vision, and Action, Bauru, SP, Brazil.
authors: Fabio A
authors: FA
authors: Barbieri
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009048:Motor Skills / Q000502:physiology*; D004856:Postural Balance / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: body sway; cascade juggling; center of pressure displacement; postural control