Complex Movement Behaviour: The'motor-actioncontroversy, pp.

189-199
O.G. Meijer & K Roth (editors)
0 Elsevier Science Publishers B.V. (North-Holland), 1988

Chapter6

VISUAL CONTROLOF AN ATTACKING FOREHAND DRIVE

INTABLETENNIS

Reinoud J. Bootsma and Piet C.W. van Wieringen

SUMMARY

An expert table tennis player was required to perform attacking forehand drives
under two ball velocity conditions with normal binocular vision. Under the faster
condition he also performed monocularly. Film analysis results suggest that
under binocular conditions two sources of information were used for timing the
initiation of the drive, viz. ball location and time to frontal eye plane (FEP) - the
time period that would elapse between the moment of movement initiation and the
moment the ball would cross the frontal plane through the eyes. Under the
monocular condition, in which localization of the ball is supposed to be more
d i f f m l t , the subject tended to slow down his movements. Moreover, while under
the binocular conditions the subject was shown to execute a consistent drive,
under the monocular condition he adapted his drive to the very slight variations
in time to FEP. It is tentatively concluded that under normal (binocular)
Conditions the player simply runs off a standard 'motor programme', while under
the more uncertain (monocular) condition 'programme parameters' are
adaptively varied to match the changes in environmental information.

1.Introduction

In one of the many discussions during this Conference, Schmidt commented on

the work of Warren (1984)on stair-climbing. Basically, his argument was that the
results Warren had obtained were not in contradiction to any current theory of
motor control. We believe this to be true, but, more importantly, we believe that no
traditional theory of motor control would have posed the question of how the
actions of a person are guided by his perception, as did Warren in the work just
mentioned, and as other proponents of an ecological approach to perception and
190 R.J. Bootsma & P.C.W. van Wieringen

action have done before him (e.g., Lee, 1976 & 1980; Von Hofsten, 1983). Herein
lies, perhaps, one of the most important contributions of an action systems
approach to the field of motor control and learning. It has enlarged the scope of
traditional motor control research and theorizing from a component-analysis
approach to a holistic approach.
The purpose of this Conference was to critically evaluate the present
controversy in the field of motor control between what have come to be known as
'motor systems approaches' (e.g., Adams, 1971; Schmidt, 1975) and 'action
systems approaches' (e.g., Kugler, Kelso & Turvey, 1980; Lee, Lishman &
Thomson, 1982;Lee et al, 1983;Reed, 1982;Turvey, 1977). Such an evaluation is
beyond the scope of the present study, which explores a much more restricted
topic. It aims at gaining some insight into the constructive role of visual
information sources for the execution and preservation of ongoing action. The
approach which is followed is in line with the work of Lee, referred to earlier.
However, the adoption of such an approach should not be considered to imply an a
priori rejection of motor systems theories; in looking for the mechanisms
subserving the guiding function of visual information such an approach might, at
least in principle, be useful.

2. An experimentconcerningsources of visual information in table tennis

The experiment that will be reported here is a small pilot study, conceived to
distinguish between different potential sources of visual information guiding a
real-life action, viz. the attacking forehand drive in table tennis.
David Lee and hie co-workers have provided a host of data, all in support of the
notion that a specific perceptual variable, tau - the inverse of the rate of dilation of
the retinal image - , is used to accommodate action, be it in diving gannets (Lee,
1980), long jumpers running up to the take-off board (Lee, Lishman & Thomson,
1982),car drivers braking to avoid collision (Lee, 19761,or subjects jumping up to
hit a falling ball (Lee et al, 1983). This variable, it is claimed, directly specifies the
time-to-contact between the actor (more specifically, the actor's eye) and the
environmental object of interest, at least in situations in which the velocity of the
object relative to the actor is constant. Von Hofsten (1986)argues in this respect
that, although time-to-contact can indeed be used in the performance of tasks in
which the eye is approached directly by an object, it cannot be the sole determinant
in, for example, catching. If an object is to be contacted at a variable distance
away from the eye, additional information about the object in question must be
available as well.
 Visual Control in Table Tennis 191

In the experiment to be reported the subject was an expert table tennis player.
Such expert performers can be distinguished from novices by, amongst other
features, highly consistent movement characteristics (Franks, Weicker &
Robertson, 1985; Spaeth-Arnold, 1977; Tyldesley & Whiting, 1975). Such highly
consistent movement characteristics imply that, if the action is to be successful,
the performer has to be very accurately tuned to the environment.
Three sources of information have, in different studies, been put forward as
determining the temporal initiation point (TIP)of an action like a table tennis
drive:
01. Distance between the player and the object to be hit (Eckert & Hamdorf, 1980);
02. Location in extracorporeal space of the object to be hit (Tyldesley, 1980);
03. Time to contact as specified by tau (Lee et al, 1982 & 1983).

-1.If this kind of information (distance between the player and the object to be hit)
is, in fact, used for initiating the drive, the performer would, necessarily, have to
alter his movement velocity if objects were to approach with different velocities;
-2. The same applies if extracorporeal location of the object to be hit is used, unless
the performer is able to adjust his position in space prior to the execution of the
drive itself in such a way that the time to contact from the extracorporeal location
of the object is kept constant;
-3.If a particular time to contact, as specified by tau, is used to determine the
temporal initiation point of the drive, a constant movement velocity and movement
time would be expected.

Conflicting results with respect to any one of these variables have been reported in
the literature but, it is maintained here, such differences may be more artefactual
than real in the sense that they may be brought about by the differing constraints
imposed upon the player in the different studies. In the Lee et a1 (1983)study, for
example, environmental information was reduced, and in the Tyldesley (1980)
study the use of only one approach velocity meant that all three information
sources previously mentioned were confounded. In the present study a top table
tennis player was required to execute an extensive series of attacking forehand
drives under conditions differing with respect to vision and ball velocity.

2.1. Method

Subject
The subject was a former Dutch national table tennis champion. He was 23 years
of age, right handed, and volunteered for participation in the experiment.
192 R.J. Bootsma & P.C.W. van Wieringen

Task
The experimental set-up was a normal table tennis situation with a Sitco RII-s
ball projection machine standing opposite the player behind the table. Balls were
delivered to the subject at a constant rate of 40 per minute. The subject was
required to smash the balls as hard and as accurately as possible onto a circular
target (55 cm diameter) on the opposite side of the net, utilizing an attacking
forehand drive technique.

Procedure
The subject was tested under three conditions, viz. 1. BILO (binocular vision, low
ball velocity - horizontal ball velocity at TIP 4.1 dsec), 2. BIHI (binocular vision,
high ball velocity - horizontal ball velocity at TIP 4.5 dsec), 3. MOHI (monocular
vision, high ball velocity - horizontal ball velocity at TIP 4.5 dsec). In the latter
condition the non-dominant (left) eye was covered. Under both ball velocity
conditions the flight paths were almost identical; comparable flight times
(preview times about 550 msec) were obtained by moving the robot backwards
under the higher velocity condition. The three conditions were presented
blockwise. After a number of acclimatization trials, which were repeated under
each of the three conditions, film recordings were made of, respectively, 25 trials
in condition BILO, 25 trials in condition BIHI, and 12 trials in condition MOHI.
These recordings were made using a Teledyne camera running at 150 frames per
sec. Following development, the films (Kodak 4 x Reversal 400 ASA) were
projected by means of a NAC (DF-16b) projector onto an opaque screen. Frame by
frame, the coordinates of ball, bat, and right eye were digitized, using a SAC 14"
XY tablet, Connected to an Apple 11microcomputer.
After smoothing, using a second order recursive Butterworth filter (cut-off
frequency 8.0 Hz),'information' parameters, such as location of the ball in space
relative to the table, distance between the ball and the eye, and time to Frontal Eye
Plane (FEP) were calculated for the temporal initiation point of the drive. Time to
FEP refers to the time period which would elapse between TIP and the moment
the ball, when maintaining constant velocity, would cross the frontal plane which
passed through the eye at TIP. This.'virtual' time (virtual, because the ball is
intercepted by the bat) is considered to be very close to 'time to contact' as defined
by Lee (1980). The latter term, however, might lead to confusion with the time
period between TIP and the moment of ballhat contact, and will, therefore, be
avoided. In addition to the aforementioned 'information' parameters, a number of
'execution' parameters, such as spatial location of the bat at the moment of
initiation and at ballhat contact, movement duration, and mean bat velocity, were
derived.
 Visual Control in Table Tennis 193

From the trials which were recorded, some, because of imperfect registration,
were unsuitable for analysis. Nineteen trials under the BILO condition, 21 trials
under the BIHI condition, and 10 trials under the MOHI condition, were available
for analysis.

Table 1. Means, standard deviations, t and F values, and levels of

significance for selected variables from the cine-analysis of a top player
under two different ball velocity conditions with normal binocular vision.
Means were compared by way of a t-test, standard deviations by means of
an F-test. In the case where the F-test would reveal significant differences
in standard deviations, a t-test with separate variance estimates was used.

TTF-TIP: estimated time to FEP at the temporal initiation point (TIP) of the
drive; BAL-TIP: horizontal position of the ball in space relative to the
leading edge of the table at TIP; DIST-TIP: distance between the eye and the
ball at TIP; DURAT: duration of the drive; BAT-TIP: horizontal position of
the bat relative to the leading edge of the table at TIP; BAT-HIT: horizontal
position of the bat relative to the leading edge of the table at the moment of
contact between bat and ball; MBV: mean bat velocity during the drive.

VARIABLE
I
LOW VELOCITY iIGH VELOCITY
N=19 N=21
STATISTIC P

lTF-TIP (msec) M 126.9 122.7 t = 1.38 0.175

SD 11.3 7.7 F = 2.13 0.104
BAL-TIP (cm) M 0.3 2.5 t = 1.29 0.206
SD 8.3 4.7 F = 3.05 0.01 8
DIST-TIP (cm) M 62.3 65.5 t = 2.12 0.040
SD 4.7 4.7 F = 1.01 0.982
DURAT (msec) M 90.6 91.8 t = 0.95 0.347
SD 4.0 4.1 F = 1.06 0.907
BAT-TIP (cm) M 117.7 121.8 t = 2.02 0.051
SD 7.1 5.7 F = 1.55 0.344
BAT-HIT (cm) M 50.7 56.6 t = 2.80 0.009
SD 8.1 4.6 F = 3.12 0.016
MBV(m/sec) M 7.89 7.66 t = 1.66 0.106
SD 0.38 0.51 F = 1.81 0.21 1
194 R.J. Bootsma h P.C. W. van Wieringen

2.2. Results

The results from the normal (binocular) vision conditions are summarized in
Table 1. They indicate that mean times to FEP did not differ significantly between

Table 2. Means, standard deviations, t and F values, and levels of

significance for selected variables from the cine-analysis of a top player
under two different vision conditions, the velocity of the ball being the same
under both conditions. Means were compared by way of a t-test, standard
deviations by way of an F-test. In the case where the F-test would reveal
significant differences in standard deviations, a t-test with separate
variance estimates was used.

TTF-TIP: estimated time to FEP at the temporal initiation point (TIP) of the
drive; BAL-TIP: horizontal position of the ball in space relative to the
leading edge of the table at TIP; DIST-TIP: distance between the eye and the
ball at TIP; DURAT: duration of the drive; BAT-TIP: horizontal position of
the bat relative to the leading edge of the table at TIP; BAT-HIT: horizontal
position of the bat relative to the leading edge of the table at the moment of
contact between bat and ball; MBV: mean bat velocity during the drive.

VARIABLE MONOCULAR BINOCULAR STATISTIC P

N=10 N=21
-
llF-TIP (rnsec) M 123.6 122.7 t = 0.29 0.772
SD 8.6 7.7 F = 1.24 0.656
BAL-TIP (crn) M -6.8 2.5 t = 4.98 0.001
SD 5.1 4.7 F = 1.17 0.729
DIST-TIP (cm) M 67.9 65.5 t = 1.44 0.160
SD 3.4 4.7 F 5:1.91 0.318
DURAT (rnsec) M 97.2 91.8 t = 1.91 0.082
SD 8.5 4.1 F = 4.26 0.007
BAT-TIP (cm) M 114.1 121.8 t = 3.33 0.002
SD 6.6 5.7 F = 1.33 0.566
BAT-HIT (crn) M 50.1 56.6 t = 3.63 0.001
SD 4.9 4.6 F = 1.13 0.772
MBV(m/sec) M 7.01 7.66 t = 3.18 0.004
SD 0.58 0.51 F = 1.29 0.608
 Viswl Control in Table Tennis 195

the conditions BILO and BIHI, although time to FEP was somewhat more
variable under the former condition than under the latter.
With respect to the extracorporeal location of the ball at TIP (relative to the
leading edge of the table in the direction of the player) no significant difference
between the conditions BILO and BIHI was found. The distance between the
subject and the ball at TIP, however, was significantly different under the BILO
and BIHI conditions. Given the non-significant difference between the times to
FEP under both conditions, the latter result was, of course, to be expected.
The 'execution' parameter, movement duration, showed no significant
difference between the two conditions. The very low variability of the parameter is
remarkable.
An explanation of the simultaneous finding of non-significant differences in
times to FEP and ball locations at TIP between the two velocity conditions is found
in the fact that the subject stepped backwards a little under the high velocity
condition prior to the drive proper, thus transposing his entire body position with
respect to the leading edge of the table. This is reflected in the differences in
position of the bat at TIP and at ballhat contact between both conditions.

In Table 2 the values of the dependent variables under the BIHI condition are
further compared with those obtained under the MOHI condition. Again, the
mean times to FEP did not differ significantly.
An interesting finding concerned the mean location of the ball in space at TIP,
which differed significantly under the two vision conditions, while ball velocity did
not change. Although the length of the drive remained unchanged, mean bat
velocity decreased and movement duration increased under the monocular
situation. Movement time also became more variable.

3. Discussion

The results obtained under the binocular conditions suggest that the subject made
use of two kinds of information to guide his actions, notably time to FEP and ball-
location. By stepping backwards under the higher ball velocity condition, the drive
could be initiated at the moment the ball occupied about the same location in
space, while time to FEP at TIP was also held constant. The very low variability of
movement duration, indicating high consistency in movement execution,
confirms the findings in expert players reported by Tyldesley and Whiting (1975)
and Franks et a1 (1985).
196 R.J. Bootsma & P.C. W.van Wieringen

According to Schmidt (1982), such consistency might be the consequence of the

'running off' of a well established 'motor programme'. Within such a framework,
the 'triggering' of this programme would appear to be controlled by two
information sources at the same time: time to FEP and ball-location. Instead of
relying totally on one perceptual source of information, as might be implied by
recent experimental work (Eckert & Hamdorf, 1980; Lee et al, 1982 & 1983;
Tyldesley, 1980; Wagner, 1982), the subject appears to employ a multiple source
strategy. If the latter conjecture is, in fact, correct, it would follow that preventing
adequate use of one of these information sources would render movement
execution more difficult and, consequently, less consistent.
This prediction was borne out under the monocular condition. In this condition,
information about location and trajectory of the ball would be more difficult to
obtain because of the lack of binocular disparity cues (Regan, Beverley & Cynader,
1979), whereas time to FEP (specified by the rate of dilation of the retinal image of
the uncovered eye) should still be accessible (McLeod, McLaughlin & Nimmo-
smith,in press).
The results obtained here did, indeed, indicate that under the monocular
condition movement execution was more variable than under the binocular
condition with the same ball velocity. Moreover, movement execution seemed to be
more 'cautious' under the monocular than under the binocular condition, as can
be inferred from the finding that mean bat velocity was significantly lower under
the former condition.

With respect to the results obtained under the binocular conditions, it was
speculated that the 'triggering' of the motor programme specifying the forehand
drive might be under control of visual information. Post-hoc considerations led to
further explorations. These explorations were motivated by the possibility that,
although the low variability in movement execution may indeed be seen as one
more example of the consistency of top-players, it may, nevertheless, be taken as
signalling the influence of visual control factors. This latter point of view
motivated the assessment of correlation coefficients between time to FEP at TIP on
the one hand, and peak bat velocity and peak bat acceleration on the other. Under
the BILO condition time to FEP correlated positively with peak bat velocity (rp =
.42, p < ,051and peak bat acceleration (rp = .43, p < .05).Under the BIHI condition
these correlations were again positive, although somewhat smaller - the
correlation coefficients being .43 (p < .05)and .36 (p c .lo), respectively. It should
be noted, however, that under the latter condition variations in time to FEP were
extremely small; therefore, significant correlations would be diflcult to obtain
(restriction of range).
 Visual Control in Table Tennis 197

Thus, it appears justified to suggest that in the binocular condition the player
operates within a specific bandwidth with regard to time to FEP (in the sense of
starting his drive within the period defined by this bandwidth), and runs off his
drive in the same, ballistic, way from there on. That such a control strategy would
indeed give rise to positive correlations, as have been found, is clear if it is realized
that the bat is continuously accelerating until the ball is hit, implying that a
longer time to FEP at TIP is associated with a higher peak ball velocity and
acceleration. Interestingly, in the monocular, high ball velocity condition negative
correlations between time to F'EP at TIP and both peak bat velocity (rp = -.75,p c
.Ol> and acceleration (rp = -.77,p c .01)were found. Such negative correlations
would be expected if time to FEP at TIP is not used for triggering the same motor
programme time and again, but for 'guiding' the action in eliciting a slower drive
when having a relatively large, and eliciting a faster drive when having a
relatively small value.
Following these lines of argument, it is tentatively concluded that the top player
under the normal (binocular) conditions resorts to highly consistent forehand
drives, supposedly governed by a motor programme of which the parameters are
kept constant. When the situation is less familiar and uncertainty about ball
location and trajectory increases (monocular condition), the player appears to
adapt the execution of his drives to the characteristics of the visual information at
TIP. This might be achieved by specifying different values for the force parameter
of the motor programme from trial to trial. Whether or not a motor programme,
or some other mechanism, is subserving the perception-action coupling can not,
however, be deduced from the results of the present experiment as it is not known
whether the observed trial-to-trial adaptation is accomplished prior to or during
the drive. It should be borne in mind, though, that Lee et a1 (1983)report evidence
against the utilization of a motor programme in subjects jumping up to punch a
falling ball. A n alternative mechanism has, however, not yet been put forward.
It goes without saying that the interpretation of the results obtained in this N=l
study is still speculative. Replication of the experiment on a larger scale is
momentarily under way. At least, the tentative conclusions, drawn about the
modes of control exemplified under the normal (binocular) and more uncertain
(monocular) conditions, serve as hypotheses for these replications. The way in
which they were framed illustrates the point, hinted at in the introduction, that
looking for relations between visual information and actions attuned to it, does
not a priori exclude explanations for such relations in 'motor systems' terms.
198 R.J. Bootsma & P.C.W. van Wieringen

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Hans Savelberg in carrying out the

initial analysis of the experiments, and Peter Beek and John Whiting for their
helpful commenta and discussions. This study was supported by the Netherlands
Organization for the Advancement of Pure Science, project #560-259-024.

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Reinoud J. Bootsma

The Netherlands.

Piet C.W. van Wieringen

Dept. of Psychology,
8
Facul of Movement Sciences
Free niversity, P.0.Box 7161,
1007 MC Amsterdam,
The Netherlands