Performance of gymnastics skill benefits from an external focus of attention

Abstract

The present study was designed to fill a gap in the literature on attentional focus and sports performance. Specifically, in contrast to most previous studies in which an external focus was directed at an implement, we used a gymnastics skill that did not involve the use of an implement. Furthermore, while most studies used only outcome measures of performance, we also assessed movement quality. Twelve-year-old gymnasts performed a maximum vertical jump with a 180-degree turn while airborne, with their hands crossing in front of their chest during the turn under three different focus conditions. Under the external focus condition, participants were asked to focus on the direction in which a tape marker, which was attached to their chest, was pointing after the turn. Under the internal focus condition, they were asked to focus on the direction in which their hands were pointing after the turn. Under the control condition, no focus instructions were given. The external focus condition resulted in both superior movement form and greater jump height than did the other two conditions, which produced comparable results. The present findings show that, similar to other tasks, the performance of form-based skills can be enhanced relatively easily by appropriate external focus instructions.

Optimizing performance through intrinsic motivation and attention for learning: The OPTIMAL theory of motor learning

“…Expert ratings (Abdollahipour, Wulf, Psotta, & Palomo Nieto, 2015;Wulf, Chiviacowsky, Schiller, & Ávila, 2010) as well as analyses of movement kinematics (An, Wulf, & Kim, 2013;Christina & Alpenfels, 2014;Lohse, Sherwood, & Healy, 2010;Parr & Button, 2009;Southard, 2011;Wulf & Dufek, 2009) have shown that movement form can be optimized with external relative to an internal focus as well. For example, in novice rowers, instructions directed at the blade (e.g., "Keep the blade level during the recovery") rather than the hands (e.g., "Keep your hands level during the recovery") led to greater improvements in the technique, as evidenced by various kinematic measures after a 7-week retention interval (Parr & Button).…”

Letter to the editor concerning the article “Performance of gymnastics skill benefits from an external focus of attention” by Abdollahipour, Wulf, Psotta & Nieto (2015)

“…Instead, Abdollahipour et al (2015) 67 focus discussion on theory and laboratory/fundamental research findings (e.g., Kal, van der 68 Kamp, & Houdijk, 2013;Land, Frank, & Schack, 2014;Wulf, Höß, & Prinz, 1998) Indeed, elite-level athletes report beneficial effects from focussing on aspects of the 88 movement (e.g., Bernier, Trottier, Thienot, & Fournier, 2015;Carson, Collins, & 89 MacNamara, 2013;MacPherson, Collins, & Morriss, 2008;Nyberg, 2015;Orlick & 90 Partington, 1988;Robazza & Bortoli, 1998) and, sport psychologists often employ explicit 91 movement imagery techniques to enhance competitive performance (e.g., Carson,Collins,& 92 Jones, 2014; Collins, Morriss, & Trower, 1999;Martindale & Collins, 2012;Wang & Zhang, 93 2015). Accordingly, failure to contextualise the study within current coaching/sport 94 psychology practices, or to explain why athletes' perceptions are apparently wrong, surely 95 limits the paper's ability to serve its purpose in a purportedly applied discipline.…”

“…Letter to the editor concerning the article "Performance of gymnastics skill benefits from an 48 external focus of attention" by Abdollahipour, Wulf, Psotta & Nieto (2015) …”

“…In a recent study, Abdollahipour, Wulf, Psotta, and Palomo Nieto (2015) aimed to 50 investigate attentional focus effects in skills that do not utilise implements (e.g., a golf club) 51 and that are evaluated on movement quality. Specifically, the task was a gymnastics vertical 52 jump with a 180-degree turn while airborne.…”

“…Thirdly, the authors advise that identifying an appropriate external focus might be a 145 challenge for athletes and coaches during skill execution when an implement is not involved; 160 when attending to body movements, the performer constrains his or her motor system 161 by using conscious control processes that interfere with automatic control 162 mechanisms. In contrast, when attention is directed at the intended movement effect, 163 automatic-that is, unconscious, fast and reflexive-processes are utilised, with the 164 result that motor performance is enhanced (Abdollahipour et al, 2015(Abdollahipour et al, , p. 1807 165 When a metaphor is used, the athlete often reports translation of the entire visual image 166 (although metaphors need not only be visual) into kinaesthetic, and sometimes auditory, 167 sensations, or "interpretive descriptors" (Hanin & Stambulova, 2002, p. 401); thus supporting 168 the optimal use of multisensory information in guiding a most vivid and, crucially, personally 169 meaningful motor plan (cf. Ernst & Banks, 2002;Holmes & Collins, 2001).…”