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.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
HauwD.DurandM. (2004) Elite athletes' differentiated action in trampolining: a qualitative and situated analysis of different levels of performance using retrospective interviews. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 98, 1139–1152.
2.
SèveC. (in press) Impact of the new scoring system on expert table tennis players' activity. In LeesA.KahnJ-F.MaynardI. W. (Eds.), Science and racket sports. London: Routledge.
3.
SèveC.SauryJ.RiaL.DurandM. (2003) Structure of expert players' activity during competitive interaction in table tennis. Research Quarterly for Sport and Exercise, 74, 71–83.
4.
TheureauJ. (1992) Le cours d'action: analyse sémiologique [The course of action: semiological analysis]. Toulouse, Octarès.
