External and global internal focus of attention on whole-body similarly increases the vertical jump performance: a randomised, controlled and crossover study

Kons, Rafael Lima; Costa, Filipe Estácio; Dias, Jonathan Ache; Gheller, Rodrigo Ghedini; Zimmerman, Haiko Bruno; Pupo, Juliano Dal; Detanico, Daniele

doi:10.1080/1612197x.2021.1987965

Cited by 1 publication

(1 citation statement)

References 33 publications

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“…Within that context, Kons [ 44 ] could show that the targeted body-range addressed by instructions is of great importance. Constructing an unspecific internal focus (“focus on body extension”) versus a classic IF (“focus on knee extension”) compared with an EF (“focus to reach the ceiling”) revealed that the unspecific IF achieved comparable results to the EF condition.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Focus of Attention in Coach Instructions for Technique Training in Sports: A Scrutinized Review of Review Studies

Werner

Federolf²

2023

JFMK

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Literature reports superior performance when focusing one’s attention during a movement on environmental effects of that movement (external focus, EF) compared to focusing on the moving body (internal focus, IF). Nevertheless, IF instructions still play an important role in the daily practice of coaches, trainers, and therapists. The current review compiles evidence for focus-of-attention concepts on movement form corrections and technique training. Reviews on the topic and selected additional papers addressing the effect of attentional focus on movement form or on kinetic, kinematic or muscle activity data were included. Both EF and IF instructions affect movement form. The reviews revealed that IF instructions seem to be better applicable to direct movement form changes than EF instructions. In contrast, EF instructions better facilitate optimization within the whole-body coordination, often resulting in better performance outcomes not directly linked to movement pattern changes. Several studies discuss focus-of-attention effects in the context of the optimal feedback control theory expanding on the constrained action hypothesis. In summary, EF and IF instructions both affect form and performance of movements, however, their relative efficacy is situation dependent. The often-purported superiority of EF over IF instructions cannot be generalized to all application contexts.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%