Acreditado a PTU por ANECA desde 2020. Autor de 50 artículos JCR. Acumula 2500h de docencia universitaria. Ha trabajado en 7 universidades diferentes de España y Europa.
The aim of the current experiment was to examine the spatiotemporal control of expert tennis players while executing first service returns within a representative experimental setting. We recruited and tested 12 male expert tennis players in hard courts. A comprehensive analysis of the timing (eleven temporal variables analysed at 300 Hz) and performance success of the return actions were carried out, while simultaneously considering task constraints such as the accuracy and the speed of the serves. Temporal organisation of return actions were scaled relative to the server’s racket-ball contact (5 ms), an adaptation of fly-time of the split-step, which resulted in consistent landings (133 ms), and initiation of lateral movements towards the ball – with no response errors – after the server’s stroke (around 177 ms). Poorer returns occurred when responding to accurate serves accompanied by late trunk movements towards the ball. Returners scaled the timing of the response to the unfolding action of the serve in order to support both spatial and temporal accuracy. These novel findings highlight the significance of the study of fast-ball sports in representative settings and offer further detail on the spatiotemporal control of skilful perception-action.
It is widely accepted that the sources of information used to guide interceptive actions depend on conflicting spatiotemporal task demands. However, there is a paucity of evidence that shows how information pick-up during interceptive actions is adapted to such conflicting constraints. The present study therefore examined the effects of systematic manipulations of spatiotemporal constraints on performance, timing and gaze in an in situ interceptive action. To this end, expert futsal goalkeepers faced penalty kicks taken from 10 m and 6 m. With the more lenient spatiotemporal constraints (i.e., kicks from 10 m), the goalkeepers saved more kicks, initiated their actions later, and looked longer toward ball relative to the penalty takers’ body. Furthermore, analysis of gaze patterns showed that interindividual variations in information pick-up were related to the unfolding of the penalty taker’s action, revealing a less variable, funnel-like gaze pattern toward the end of the action. These findings are interpreted to reflect that changes in spatiotemporal demands induce the differential use of information for the accurate control of interceptive actions.
This study addressed the question whether coaches better allow athletes to self-control their decisions when under pressure or whether to impose a decision upon them. To this end, an experiment was conducted that manipulated the soccer kickers’ degree of control in decision-making. Two groups of elite under-19 soccer players (n = 18) took penalty kicks in a self-controlled (i.e., kickers themselves decided to which side to direct the ball) and an externally controlled condition (i.e., the decision to which side to direct the ball was imposed upon the kickers). One group performed the penalty kick under psychological pressure (i.e., the present coaching staff assessed their performance), while the second group performed without pressure. Just before and after performing the kicks, CSAI-2 was used to measure cognitive and somatic anxiety and self-confidence. Further, the number of goals scored, ball placement and speed, and the duration of preparatory and performatory behaviors were determined. The results verified increased levels of cognitive and somatic anxiety after performing the kicks in the pressured group compared to the no-pressure group. In addition, degree of self-control affected the participants’ performance, particularly in the pressured group. They scored more goals and placed the kicks higher in the self-controlled than in the externally-controlled condition. Participants also took more time preparing and performing the run-up in the self-controlled condition. Findings indicate that increased self-control helps coping with the debilitating effects of pressure and can counter performance deteriorations. The findings are discussed within the framework of self-control theories, and recommendations for practitioners and athletes are made.