Internal and External Focus of Attention in a Novice Form Sport

Abstract

In the current experiment, we examined optimal focus for novices during a movement sequence in which performance was measured on accurate movement form/technique. A novel gymnastics routine was practiced under either an internal skill-relevant, internal skill-irrelevant, external, or no attention focus. Retention and transfer tests were then completed. During acquisition, adopting an internal irrelevant focus significantly improved performance, whereas an external focus degraded performance. There were no significant group differences in the retention and transfer tests. This suggests that learning of movement form/technique did not benefit from a specific focus of attention. The results are interpreted via an attentional capacity viewpoint and the notion that form tasks do not always contain obvious movement effects central to common coding and the constrained action hypothesis.

Key words:

• gymnastics
• skill acquisition
• technique
• verbal instruction

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Gavin P. Lawrence

Please address correspondence concerning this article to Gavin Lawrence, School of Sport, Health & Exercise Science, Institute for the Psychology of Elite Performance, Bangor University, George Building, Holyhead Rd., Bangor, Gwynedd, Wales LL57 2PX.