Effects of focus of attention depend on golfers' skill

Abstract

In this study, we examined the influence of internal and external attention instructions on the performance of a pitch shot by golfers who were either highly skilled (mean handicap = 4) or low skilled (mean handicap = 26). Ten golfers in each skill group used a 9-iron to pitch a ball as close as possible to an orange pylon, which was located at distances of 10, 15, 20 or 25 m from the golfer. Focus of attention was manipulated within participants (counterbalanced across golfers). Under internal focus of attention instructions, the participants were told to concentrate on the form of the golf swing and to adjust the force of their swing depending on the distance of the shot. For the external focus of attention conditions, the participants were told to concentrate on hitting the ball as close to the target pylon as possible. The most intriguing finding was an interaction of skill with focus of attention instructions for variability in performance. Similar to the findings of Wulf and colleagues, the highly skilled golfers performed better with external attention instructions than with internal focus instructions. In contrast, the low-skill golfers performed better with the internal than with the external focus of attention instructions. These findings are discussed relative to theoretical issues in motor learning and practical issues for golf instruction.

Overthinking skilled motor performance: Or why those who teach can’t do

“…Consistent with this view, found that requiring experienced golfers to attend to a specific component of their swing impaired their performance in a putting task. Novices, by contrast, benefit from focusing attention on elements of skill execution or the internal production of movement (Perkins-Ceccato, Passmore, & Lee, 2003; but see Wulf & Su, 2007). These examples all involve attention to a skill during its execution, however; it is unclear whether simply thinking verbally about a skill offline disrupts later skilled performance.…”

O efeito de uma estratégia de atenção na aprendizagem do salto em distância

“…As diferenças significativas observadas foram somente entre as avaliações, especificamente do PRÉ para o PÓS2 (F (1,53) = 51.21, p < .01), do PRÉ para a RET (F (1,53) = 47.96, p < .01), do PÓS1 para o PÓS2 (F (1,53) = 47.19, p < .01) e do PÓS1 para a RET (F (1,53) = 46.41, p < .01). (Perkins-Ceccato et al, 2003;Poolton et al, 2006;Wulf et al, 1998Wulf et al, , 2002Wulf & Su, 2007). Conforme os achados, direcionando a atenção para um foco externo os aprendizes utilizam um tipo de controle automático da ação, diferentemente de quando eles direcionam a atenção para o movimento do seu corpo de forma consciente, o que tende a degradar a performance (Poolton et al, 2006).…”

Effects of internal and external attentional foci on motor skill learning: testing the automation hypothesis

“…In the last few years, investigation on the performance and learning of motor skills has focused on the internal (i.e., movement patterns) and external (i.e., environmental characteristics) aspects of a task [7]. The results of this body of research have highlighted the superiority of external focus of attention on the performance and learning of motor skills in comparison to those based on internal focus and control (no attentional focus) [5,[8][9][10][11][12][13][14].…”