In research on motor control, the detrimental effect of an internal focus of attention on movement execution of well-learned motor skills is a frequently replicated finding. This experimental study was designed to determine whether this effect is observed with physiological variables during endurance exercise. We examined whether the focus of attention can influence running economy (oxygen consumption at a set running speed). Trained runners had to focus their attention on three different aspects while running on a treadmill. For three consecutive 10-min periods, runners concentrated on the running movement, on their breathing, and on their surroundings. Results showed an increased running economy in the external focus condition. In line with research on motor control, endurance sport also shows that an external focus of attention is better than an internal focus in terms of the physiological performance measure of oxygen consumption.

The authors examined the importance of local dynamical information when anticipating tennis shot direction. In separate experiments, they occluded the arm and racket, shoulders, hips, trunk, and legs and locally neutralized dynamical differences between shot directions, respectively. The authors examined the impact of these manipulations on resulting (display) dynamics and the ability of participants with varying perceptual skills to anticipate shot direction. The occlusion manipulation affected the display dynamics to a larger extent than did the neutralization manipulation. Although the authors observed a decrement in performance when local information from the arm and racket was occluded or neutralized and when information from the trunk and legs was neutralized, the results generally suggest that participants anticipated shot direction through a more global perceptual approach, particularly in perceptually skilled participants.

In a regular competition, the match score is the sum of points in three 2-min rounds. Unless there is a knockout, withdrawal, or disqualification, the winner is usually determined by points: The winner has the higher final score, exceeds the opponent's score by 7 points, or reaches the maximum of 12 points.

This study investigated the effect of cognitive fatigue on physical performance in a paced running task. Experienced runners (n = 20) performed two 3,000-m runs on an indoor track, once after cognitive fatigue, and once under nonfatigued conditions. Completion times were significantly slower in the cognitive fatigue condition (M = 12:11,88 min, SD = 0:54,26), compared with the control condition (M = 11:58,56 min, SD = 0:48,39), F(1, 19) = 8.58, p = .009, eta2p = .31. There were no differences in heart rate, t(17) = 0.13, p> .05, blood lactate levels, t(19) = 1.19, p > .05, or ratings of perceived exertion F(1, 19) = .001, p > .05. While previous research has examined the impact of cognitive tasks on physical tasks, this is the first study to examine a self-paced physical task, showing that cognitive activity indeed contributes significantly to overall performance. Specifically, cognitive fatigue increased the perception of exertion, leading to lesser performance on the running task.

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