Mind over body: Creating an external focus for sport skills

ABSTRACT

In a recent study examining the efficacy of different external foci (Singh and Wulf [2020]. The distance effect and level of expertise: Is the optimal external focus different for low-skilled and high-skilled performers? Human Movement Science, 73. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.humov.2020.102663), an external focus instruction referred to parts of the body (arms). Specifically, the image of a “platform” was used to describe the area between the wrists and elbows when passing a volleyball. The present study followed up on that study by addressing the question whether a focus on an image that represents a body part (platform) would be more effective than a focus on the body parts (arms) themselves (i.e. internal focus). In a within-participant design, novice volleyball players continuously passed a volleyball to a target on the wall. Participants completed eight 45-s trials under each of the external (“focus on your platform”) and internal focus (“focus on your arms”) conditions, performed in a counterbalanced order. The results showed that the total score (i.e. sum of scores over 45 s) was significantly higher when participants focused on the platform rather than their arms. Thus, invoking an image of an external object that “replaces” a body part can serve to promote an external focus that results in immediate performance advantages compared with an internal focus on the same body part. The findings suggest that instructors within a range of applied settings can creatively use such images to facilitate the performance of motor skills.

Highlights

• The image of an object (“platform”) is used to promote an external focus in volleyball.

• Novice volleyball players pass a ball to a target with a focus on the platform versus arms.

• Passing accuracy is superior with an external (platform) relative to an internal focus (arms).

• Using the image of an object to “replace” a body part can promote an external focus of attention.

KEYWORDS:

• Attentional focus
• volleyball
• coaching

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 In another line of research, images or analogies have been used in an attempt to enhance learning and, in particular, performance under pressure (e.g. Liao & Masters, 2001; Masters, Poolton, Maxwell, & Raab, 2008; Schücker, Hagemann, & Strauß, 2013). In these studies, the effectiveness of instructions involving analogies – such as “move the bat as if it is traveling up the side of a mountain” (Masters et al., 2008) or moving a golf club like a pendulum (Schücker et al., 2013) – has typically been compared to sets of explicit, detailed technique-related instructions. Thus, there is a possible confounding influence of the amount of information provided to different groups of learners. In the present study, the instructions differed in only one word (“concentrate on your arms” versus “concentrate on your platform”) to promote an internal versus external focus, respectively.