Where to Focus Attention When Performing the Jump Float Serve in Volleyball

The purpose of this study was to determine if an external attention focus was more effective than an internal attention focus for college female volleyball players practicing the complex open skill of the jump float serve. Sixteen college females with prior competitive volleyball playing experience were matched into either an internal or external attention focus group, each serving a total of 30 balls in three blocks of ten serves. After the pre-test, two days of practice and day off, a post-test was conducted for both groups. Results demonstrated a 25% improvement for the internal focus group and a 26.8% improvement for the external focus group. These results suggest that both internal and external focuses of attention are beneficial for practicing the complex jump float serve. However, a paired t-test from the improvement scores of both groups demonstrated no significant difference between the two practice conditions suggesting that either an internal focus or an external focus of attention is effective for practicing the complex jump float serve. In this particular study, external focus of attention was not found to be more effective than an internal focus of attention. Since these results do not support much of the research done with attention focus and sport skills, additional studies are needed comparing internal and external focus of attention, especially when practicing open sport skills.

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The automaticity of complex motor skill learning as a function of attentional focus

The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology Section A ◽

10.1080/713756012 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 54 (4) ◽

pp. 1143-1154 ◽

Cited By ~ 396

Author(s):

Gabriele Wulf ◽

Nancy McNevin ◽

Charles H. Shea

Keyword(s):

Focus Group ◽

Dynamic Balance ◽

Attentional Focus ◽

Focus Of Attention ◽

Skill Learning ◽

External Focus ◽

Control Processes ◽

Attention Focus ◽

Balance Task ◽

Internal Focus

The present experiment was designed to test the predictions of the constrained-action hypothesis. This hypothesis proposes that when performers utilize an internal focus of attention (focus on their movements) they may actually constrain or interfere with automatic control processes that would normally regulate the movement, whereas an external focus of attention (focus on the movement effect) allows the motor system to more naturally self-organize. To test this hypothesis, a dynamic balance task (stabilometer) was used with participants instructed to adopt either an internal or external focus of attention. Consistent with earlier experiments, the external focus group produced generally smaller balance errors than did the internal focus group and responded at a higher frequency indicating higher confluence between voluntary and reflexive mechanisms. In addition, probe reaction times (RTs) were taken as a measure of the attention demands required under the two attentional focus conditions. Consistent with the hypothesis, the external focus participants demonstrated lower probe RTs than did the internal focus participants, indicating a higher degree of automaticity and less conscious interference in the control processes associated with the balance task.

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Effect of Focus of Attention and Age on Motor Acquisition, Retention, and Transfer: A Randomized Trial

Physical Therapy ◽

10.2522/ptj.20060174 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 88 (2) ◽

pp. 251-260 ◽

Cited By ~ 66

Author(s):

Michal Emanuel ◽

Tal Jarus ◽

Orit Bart

Keyword(s):

Learning Strategies ◽

Physical Therapists ◽

Age Groups ◽

Focus Of Attention ◽

Transfer Phase ◽

External Focus ◽

Attention Focus ◽

Adult Participants ◽

Internal Focus ◽

Static Target

Background and Purpose Adult participants benefit more from external focus than internal focus when learning a new motor skill. Because learners from different age groups use different learning strategies, the purpose of this study was to investigate whether the effect of attention focus varies among children and adults. Subjects and Methods Thirty-four children and 32 adults were randomly assigned to internal or external focus-of-attention practice groups. Throwing darts toward a static target, participants performed 50 acquisition trials, 20 retention trials, and 20 transfer trials. Results The results indicate that focus of attention varies between children and adults in accuracy and variability in the acquisition phase and in accuracy in the transfer phase. No interactions were found in the retention phase. Discussion and Conclusion The findings suggest that external focus is more effective than internal focus in adults; therefore, physical therapists should instruct adult clients to focus their attention externally to facilitate motor learning. Physical therapists working with children should perhaps direct the client's attention internally; however, further study is needed.

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Children's learning of tennis skills is facilitated by external focus instructions

Motriz Revista de Educação Física ◽

10.1590/s1980-65742014000400008 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 20 (4) ◽

pp. 418-422 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Ricardo Hadler ◽

Suzete Chiviacowsky ◽

Gabriele Wulf ◽

José Francisco Gomes Schild

Keyword(s):

Focus Group ◽

Attentional Focus ◽

Focus Of Attention ◽

Skill Learning ◽

Control Group ◽

Practice Phase ◽

External Focus ◽

Internal Focus ◽

Tennis Balls ◽

Tennis Skills

The present study examined the effects of instructions promoting external versus internal foci of attention on the learning of a tennis forehand stroke in 11-year old children. Three groups of participants practiced hitting tennis balls at a target. External focus group participants were instructed to direct their attention to the movement of the racquet, while participants in the internal focus group were asked to direct their attention to the movements of their arm. Participants in a control group did not receive attentional focus instructions. Two days after the practice phase (60 trials), learning was assessed in retention and transfer tests. The results showed that the external focus group demonstrated greater accuracy in hitting a target relative to the two other groups in retention, and relative to the internal focus group in transfer. We conclude that instructions inducing an external focus of attention can enhance children's sport skill learning.

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Effects of attentional focus on motor learning in children with autism spectrum disorder

Autism ◽

10.1177/1362361317738393 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 23 (2) ◽

pp. 405-412 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Andy CY Tse

Keyword(s):

Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽

Focus Group ◽

Motor Learning ◽

Children With Autism ◽

Autism Spectrum ◽

Focus Of Attention ◽

Spectrum Disorder ◽

Control Group ◽

External Focus ◽

Internal Focus

Inability to acquire a new motor skill is a common motor difficulty in children with autism spectrum disorder. The purpose of this study is to examine whether the motor learning benefits of an external focus of attention for typically developing children and children with intellectual disabilities could also be applied to children with autism spectrum disorder. Children ( N = 65; mean age = 10.01 years) diagnosed with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder were randomly assigned into one of the three groups: external focus ( n = 22), internal focus ( n = 22), and control ( n = 21). They were required to throw beanbags at a static target for 50 acquisition trials, 10 retention trials, and 10 transfer trials. While all three groups learnt the skills in a similar manner during the acquisition phase, the internal focus group demonstrated more robust motor performance than the external focus group and the control group in both retention and transfer tests, while there was no difference between the external focus group and the control group in both retention and transfer tests. The findings provide evidence that internal focus of attention may be more effective for facilitating motor learning in children with autism spectrum disorder. However, further study is needed to determine the factors contributing to this finding.

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Enhancing the Learning of Sport Skills Through an External Focus of Attention

PsycEXTRA Dataset ◽

10.1037/e579872013-048 ◽

2003 ◽

Author(s):

Gabriele Wulf

Keyword(s):

Focus Of Attention ◽

External Focus ◽

Sport Skills

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Thinking Outside the Block: External Focus of Attention Improves Reaction Times and Movement Preparation Times in Collegiate Track Sprinters

Sports ◽

10.3390/sports6040120 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 6 (4) ◽

pp. 120 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Attila Kovacs ◽

Garrett Miles ◽

Harsimran Baweja

Keyword(s):

Muscle Activation ◽

Vastus Lateralis ◽

Reaction Times ◽

Focus Of Attention ◽

Track And Field ◽

Movement Preparation ◽

External Focus ◽

Internal Focus ◽

Coaching Methods ◽

Gastrocnemius Muscles

While focusing attention on external cues (EF) has been shown to enhance performance track and field coaches tend to provide instructions that promote internal focus of attention (IF) during block starts. The aims of this study were to determine: (1) whether promoting EF versus IF would improve reaction time (RT) of sprinters, and (2) if changes occur at the level of central processes during movement preparation (premotor RT) or peripheral processes during movement execution (motor RT). Twelve collegiate track sprinters (age 20.8 ± 1.7) completed three testing sessions under EF, IF, and no focus instruction (NF) conditions. RT was recorded from the left and right blocks. Muscle activation time (EMG) was recorded from the vastus lateralis and gastrocnemius muscles. Mean rear foot RT was significantly shorter (p < 0.0001) under the EF (212.11 ms) compared with the IF (234.21 ms) and NF conditions (236.87 ms). Front foot RT was significantly shorter (p < 0.05) during EF (250.24 ms), compared to IF (266.98 ms) but not shorter than the NF (268.73 ms) condition. Mean premotor RT under the EF condition (157.75 ms) was significantly shorter (p < 0.001) compared with the IF (181.90 ms) and NF (173.60 ms) conditions. No differences were found in motor RT across conditions (p > 0.05). Adopting an EF improves RT during sprint starts. This improvement likely originates from a shortening in movement preparation time, as opposed to a faster excitation contraction coupling of the muscle fibers. These findings could potentially contribute to the development of new coaching methods aimed at improving the starting technique of athletes.

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Verbal Cues and Attentional Focus: A Simulated Target-Shooting Experiment

Journal of Motor Learning and Development ◽

10.1123/jmld.2016-0017 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 5 (1) ◽

pp. 148-159 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Louisa D. Raisbeck ◽

Jed A. Diekfuss

Keyword(s):

Attentional Focus ◽

Focus Of Attention ◽

Verbal Cues ◽

Task Load ◽

External Focus ◽

Gun Barrel ◽

Internal Focus ◽

And Performance ◽

Nasa Task Load Index ◽

Learning And Performance

Performance benefits exist for an external focus of attention compared with an internal focus of attention for performance and learning (Wulf, 2013). It is unknown, however, if varying the number of verbal cues affects learning and performance. Focus of attention and the number of verbal cues were manipulated during a simulated handgun-shooting task. For the internal focus conditions, participants were told to focus on their hand, arm, and wrist, whereas the external focus instructions were to focus on the gun, gun barrel, and gun stock. To manipulate the number of verbal cues, participants received instruction to focus on a single verbal cue or multiple verbal cues. Shooting performance was assessed at baseline, acquisition, and at two separate retention phases (immediate, delayed) that included transfer tests. Participants completed the NASA—Task Load Index to assess workload following all trials. Participants who received one verbal cue performed significantly better during immediate retention than those who received three verbal cues. Participants who used external focus of attention instructions had higher performance and reported less workload at delayed retention compared to those who used internal focus instructions. This research provides further support for the benefits of an external focus and highlights the importance of minimizing the number of verbal cues.

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Do Children Benefit External Focus of Attention as Much as Adults? A Motor Learning Study

Modern Applied Science ◽

10.5539/mas.v11n7p85 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 11 (7) ◽

pp. 85 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Somaye Roshandel ◽

Hamidreza Taheri ◽

Amir Moghadam

Keyword(s):

Motor Skills ◽

Retention Test ◽

Attentional Focus ◽

Focus Of Attention ◽

Learning Study ◽

Test Results ◽

Future Studies ◽

External Focus ◽

Internal Focus ◽

And Task

Recent evidence supports advantages of an external focus of attention on learning motor skills, however, there is a need to retest these finding for children and comparing them with adults. Thus, the purpose of current study was to determine the effect of different attentional focus on learning a motor skill in children and adults. Thirty children (8-12 year) and thirty adults (25-42 years) were randomly assigned to one of four groups: (1) Children external focus of attention (EFA), (2) Children- internal focus of attention (IFA), (3) Adults- External focus of attention (EFA), (4) Adults- internal focus of attention (IFA). Following initial instructions and task demonstration, participants performed 60 darts throwing in six blocks and 24 hours later performed 10 additional throws for retention test. Results revealed that children benefited from EFA and IFA instruction in the same manner, however, adults benefited from EFA more than IFA instruction. Future studies should continue to examine effects of different attentional focus on other skills.

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A motor imagery during blind action is guided by the same foci of attention as actual performance in a sample comprising females

International journal of psychological research ◽

10.21500/20112084.654 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 7 (2) ◽

pp. 11-16

Author(s):

Bassem Khalaf

Keyword(s):

Mental Imagery ◽

Focus Of Attention ◽

Direct Role ◽

Actual Performance ◽

External Focus ◽

Deviation Measure ◽

Straight Line ◽

Internal Focus ◽

Perceptual Representations ◽

Better Than

There is strong evidence that focussing on the goal of an action improves performance relative to focussing on the concrete motor behaviours. The current study tests whether blind action guided by imagery relies on the same foci of attention. Thirty female participants took part in an experiment. In each condition there were 20 trials, they were asked to close their eyes and draw a straight line between two landmarks on a graphics tablet. We instructed them, in three conditions, to focus on (1) mental imagery of the goal landmark (external focus of attention), (2) drawing a straight line with the fingers (internal focus), or (3) without a specific focus of attention (control). We tested to what extent these attention instructions affected drawing performance, in terms of both deviations of the participants’ lines from an ideal straight line, and the time it took to complete the line. The study revealed that the manipulation specifically affected the deviation measure and that an external focus of attention was better than an internal focus and the control condition. These findings reveal that that mental imagery during blind action relies on same processes as actual performance. These data give perceptual representations of a direct role in motor control. They will be related to current theories of action control (constrained action hypothesis, ideomotor theories, and dual task accounts).

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