To Focus or Not to Focus: Is Attention on the Core Components of Action Beneficial for Cycling Performance?

Abstract

1We conducted a counterbalanced repeated measure trial to investigate the effect of different 2 internal and external associative strategies on endurance performance. Seventeen college-3 aged students were randomly assigned to three experimental conditions to test the notion that 4 different attention-performance types (optimal Type 1, functional Type 2, and dysfunctional 5 Type 3) would influence endurance time on a cycling task. Specifically, Type 1 represented 6 an effortless and automatic, "flow-feeling" attentional mode. Type 2 referred to an 7 associative focus directed at core components of the task. Type 3 represented an attentional 8 focus directed at irrelevant components of the task. Participants completed three time-to-9 exhaustion-tests while reporting their perceived exertion and affective states (arousal and 10 hedonic tone). Results revealed that Type 1 and Type 2 attentional strategies, compared to 11 Type 3 strategy, exerted functional effects on performance, whereas a Type 3 strategy was 12 linked to lower performance, and lower levels of arousal and pleasantness. Applied 13 implications are discussed. 15Keywords: Attentional focus, cycling, fatigue, endurance, multi-action plan model. There is general agreement about the importance of studying how different attentional 3 strategies influence performance in sport and exercise settings (Basevitch et al., 2011; 4 Blanchfield, Hardy, de Morree, Staiano, & Marcora, 2014;Connolly & Tenenbaum, 2010; 5 Hutchinson & Razon et al., 2010; for a review, see Brick, MacIntyre, & 6 Campbell 2014). In this regard, previous research has shown that one's ability to self-regulate 7 attentional focus (e.g., attentional flexibility) is associated with the ability to sustain exertive 8 effort in endurance tasks (for a review, see Tenenbaum, 2005). To perform optimally, athletes 9 must be able to employ different attentional strategies in order to control external and internal 10 distracters, while focusing on body and task-relevant cues (Tenenbaum, 2001(Tenenbaum, , 2005. 11 Attentional Strategies for Endurance Performance 12Early research suggested that there are primarily two coping strategies that can be 13 used to enhance performance in endurance tasks (a) "association" and (b) "dissociation" 14(Weinberg, Smith, Jackson, & Gould, 1984). Association occurs when people monitor their 15 body sensations (e.g., respiration rate, body temperature, muscle pain and tightness), while 16 reminding themselves to relax and modify stride and pace to secure greater running economy. 17Indeed, elite performers monitor their body sensations more effectively than their less 18 accomplished counterparts (Raglin & Wilson, 2008 attention to improve adjustment to a physical task (Tenenbaum, 2005). This initial distinction 4 between the two broad categories of attention focus (as association and dissociation) was 5 introduced by Morgan and Pollock (1977), and has since oriented research on attentional 6 focus and physical effort (Hutchinson & Tenenbaum, 2007; ...

Performance Optimization in Sport: A Psychophysiological Approach

“…Type 2 performance is typified by a higher level of attentional focus and functional performance. Compensatory resources need to be recruited for this performance state that can be obtained by consciously focusing attention on the core components of the action, such as pedaling rate in cycling 5 , braking point in car race 6 , or aiming in shooting 7,8 . Type 3 suboptimal performance is characterized by an excessive attention focus that leads to over-controlled task execution, movement disruption, and dysfunctional performance.…”

Former Road Cyclists Still Involved in Cycling Report Lower Burnout Levels Than Those Who Abandoned This Sport

“…Interestingly, the present study adds to the literature of psychology in the domain of cycling; previous psychological studies addressed other aspects related to cycling, such as mood (e.g., Murgia et al, 2016), recovery-stress balance (e.g., Filho et al, 2013Filho et al, , 2015, attentional focus (e.g., Bertollo et al, 2015;di Fronso et al, 2018), and psychobiosocial states (e.g., Robazza et al, 2017). As concerns psychobiosocial states, other studies highlighted their potential role as mediators of the relationship between the perceived motivational climate by young athletes and their motivation to continue playing sports (e.g., Bortoli et al, 2009Bortoli et al, , 2011Bortoli et al, , 2014; thus, psychobiosocial states also could be taken into consideration by future studies aiming to better understand the role of burnout in sport abandonment.…”

“Being in the Zone”: A Systematic Review on the Relationship of Psychological Correlates and the Occurrence of Flow Experiences in Sports’ Performance

“…Finally, focus-attention was identified as a facilitator that should be included in the internal states that promote flow experiences in sports. A study highlighted that external (flow-feeling attentional mode) and internal (focused at the basic aspects of action and not at fatigue) associative focus-attention strategies can facilitate the performance in a competition environment (Bertollo et al, 2015).…”

“…The combination of avoidance temperament (personality disposition) and performance-avoidance goals (motivation) would facilitate a regulatory process like flow that is commonly considered an optimal, even positive experience (Csikszentmihalyi, 1999). Both external (flow state) and internal associative attention strategies can be functional on a performance state (Bertollo et al, 2015). Especially internal attention can be functional when focusing on the core component of action and not on feelings of fatigue.…”