Haptic Perception of Affordances of a Sport Implement: Choosing Hockey Sticks for Power versus Precision Actions on the Basis of “Feel”

Abstract

The present study investigated how changing the mass distribution of a hockey stick influenced the perceived affordances of a stick's utility for performing either a precision or power action. Top-weighted sticks were preferred for executing precisely controlled movements, both before and after using the stick to complete an interception action task. Initially, participants in the power condition preferred the bottom -weighted stick. However, once participants performed the power condition action task, they preferred a stick with a mass concentration closer to their point of grasp. These results indicate that a held object's perceived affordances are influenced both by its mass distribution, and the perceiver's level of experience using the tool for a given action. Human factors consideration include designing hand-held sporting equipment that capitalizes on people's sensitivity to an object's mass distribution.