Elite Athletes' Sensitivity to Context: The Case of a Change in Scoring System in Table Tennis

Abstract

3 elite table tennis players' streams of actions during international matches were compared under the old scoring system (3 winning sets of 21 points) and the new (4 winning sets of 11 points). The organization of actions changed under the new system, with the relative duration of exploration activity becoming shorter than that of execution activity. These results indicate that elite performance in table tennis is characterized by the athletes' close attunement to elements of context—in this case, the scoring system—for the organization of their actions.