Does distance perception ability of golfers affect their motor control : An attempt to measure individual distance perception using a visual analog scale

To improve sports performance, it is necessary to perceive the environment accurately. Similar to the acquisition of sports skills, the ability to perceive the environment is cultivated through learning. People with higher skill levels can perceive the environment more accurately than those with lower skill levels. However, it has been reported that even if the person is the same person, the person’s perception changes dynamically owing to the psychological state. Therefore, a deeper understanding of the relationship between perception and motor control is important in sports science. In this study, two experiments were conducted to examine the relationship between golfers’ distance perception and motor control. The first experiment was conducted to investigate whether the visual analog scale（VAS）, which was prepared to measure the golfers’ distance perception, could clearly express the differences in task values. It was found that the VAS could be used to measure the distance perception of performers. In the second experiment, 10 professional golfers and 10 high-level amateur golfers participated in putting tasks of different distances from 0.9 m to 3.0 m（a total of 8 distances at 0.3 m intervals）. In each trial, participants answered their distance perception on the VAS and presented various target distances in a random order. The amateur golfers tended to overestimate distances compared to professionals. However, for the peak velocity of the putter head, which was analyzed as a kinematic variable, no significant differences were observed between amateurs and professionals. There was no significant correlation between distance perception and motor control. Although amateurs overestimated the distance perception of the targets, the results of this study did not support the model in which such perceptual distortion influences motor control. The usefulness and limitations of the VAS developed in this study and future research are discussed.