The Quiet Eye Period and its Relationship With Task Complexity: Is the Ceiling Effect an Indicator of Expertise?

Background: The quiet eye (QE) period is defined as the final fixation prior to movement initiation for a minimum period of 100 ms. In golf the QE period continues beyond the ball being struck and typically lasts approximately 2-3s. Longer total-QE, pre-QE (pre-ball contact), and post-QE (post-ball contact) are associated with more complex tasks and higher-skilled golfers. However, excessively long QE durations are most likely counterproductive. Purpose: We aimed to use an in-situ design to investigate how task complexity affects QE duration in thirty golfers (10 Sub-elites, 10 Intermediates and 10 Novices). Data Collection: Participants performed four shots from increasing distances (greater task complexity). Total-QE, QE-pre, and QE-post were measured. Results: Novice total-QE indicated a significant moderate linear relationship with complexity, whereas no relationship was observed in intermediate and sub-elites. Novice QE increased by 53% between the simplest and the most complex condition. Conclusions: A ceiling effect may be a discriminating factor between skilled and less-skilled golfers, which could suggest that the mechanisms underpinning the QE in higher-skilled golfers are independent of task demands. The consistent QE durations observed in sub-elite golfers may imply that this period is used to parameterise the optimal movement variant or that this group did not find the most complex task more effortful. Novice golfers were more sensitive to alterations in tasks demands, which may indicate that the QE period reflects a higher cognitive load, explaining a linear increase in QE duration. A ceiling effect may indicate a difference in the purpose of QE between skilled and less skilled golfers.