2018 National Strength and Conditioning Association Hawaii State Clinic presentation on the interdependence of psychology, physiology, and motor learning on performance athletics

1. TITLE SLIDE
THE ROLE OF ATTENTIONAL FOCUS IN
PERFORMANCE ATHLETICS
By Don Pump CSCS,*D, NSCA-CPT,*D, RSCC

2. THE ROLE OF ATTENTIONAL FOCUS IN
PERFORMANCE ATHLETICS
By Don Pump CSCS,*D, NSCA-CPT,*D, RSCC

3. SPECIAL THANKS
• NSCA
• Dr. Michelle Thompson PhD, CSCS*D
• Hawaii State Board
• Dr. Nick Winkelman PhD, CSCS,*D
• Rachel Larson PhDc, CSCS,*D, RSCC
• University of Hawaii
• Sponsors
SPECIAL THANKS
• NSCA
• Dr. Michelle Thompson PhD, CSCS*D
• Hawaii State Board
• Dr. Nick Winkelman PhD, CSCS,*D
• Rachel Larson PhDc, CSCS,*D, RSCC
• University of Hawaii
• Sponsors

5. MY JOURNEY
 BS Exercise Science, Sacred Heart University 2003
 MS Kinesiology, University of Texas December 2018*
 NSCA Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist with
Distinction (CSCS,*D)
 NSCA Certified Personal Trainer with Distinction (NSCA-
CPT,*D)
 Registered Strength and Conditioning Specialist (RSCC)
 National Association of Speed and Explosion (NASE)
Certified Speed Specialist Level 2 (CSS)
 Functional Movement Systems FMS L1 / YBAL

6. LEARNING OBJECTIVES
 Bridging the Gap between the brain and the body by
investigating the interdisciplinary model of attentional
focus.
 What are we essentially trying to figure out in the
coaching world?[How to improve performance in less
time]

7. HISTORICAL CONTEXT
 Where have we been, what is our
path forward?
– 1859 Sir William Hamilton
– 1859 William Wundt “Father of experimental psychology”
– 1890 William James- One of the first definition of
attention describing it as the “focalization, concentration,
of consciousness (James, 1890)
– 1890 Jacques Loeb- First demonstrated through research
that muscular strength (Hand dynamometer) decreases
during mental work.
– 1896 Solomon & Stein supported this line of research
– BREAK IN ATTENTIONAL RESEARCH
– WWII Era where the need to understand human
performance was rekindled.

8. DEFINE ATTENTION
 Attention refers to several characteristics associated with
PERCEPTUAL(Interpret and Feel), COGNITIVE (Think), and
MOTOR ACTIVITIES (Neuromuscular) that establish limits to
our performance of motor skills (Magill, 2011).
 Altering of one’s attention towards a specific element within
their environment (Porter, Wu, Crossley, Knopp, & Campbell, 2015).
 The ability to switch focus from one source of information to
another and as the amount of information that can be
attended to at any one time (Cox,2007)

9. ATTENTION
 Attention can be interpreted from three
points of view.
 Psychology – Thoughts & Feelings
 Psychophysiology – Interdependence the brain and body
 Motor Learning – Developmental Programing

10. WHERE
DOES
YOUR
SPOTLIGHT
POINT?

11. DIMENSION OF ATTENTION
Dimension of Attention, Dr. Robert Nideffer

12. INTERNAL VS EXTERNAL FOCUS
 Internal Focus - Relative to your body
 External Focus – Relative to the world
around you.

13. ATTENTIONAL NAROWING
• Optimal Focus
• Overwhelmed
• Tunnel Vision

14. AROUSAL & ANXIETY
 Arousal is a general physiological state of activation
ranging on a continuum from deep sleep to
extreme excitement.
 Arousal increases above the optimal levels an
involuntary narrowing occurs and an athlete shifts
to an internally focused style (Williams & Krane, 2015).
 Anxiety is a state of uneasiness and apprehension,
as about future uncertainties. Ultimately anxiety is
a cognitive state that yields a physiological
response represented in a physical appearance.

15. INDIVIDUAL ZONE OF OPTIMAL FUNCTION
(IZOF)

16. General
Warm up
Specific
Warm Up
Phase 1
Specific
Warm UP
Phase 2
Power
Development
Strength
Development
Aerobic
Conditioning
Recovery
Neurological Degradation
Mental Skills Development
IZOF

17. "If you train yourself how to focus on the right thing at the right
time it may very well be the difference between capitalizing or
cowering to the situation"
Dr. Jesse Michel Ph.D., CMPC
Mental Skills Coordinator, Houston Astros

19. INSTRUCTION AND FEEDBACK
The result of this change in attentional focus is
amazing: The Jibes are much faster, more
fluent and much more successful!
Gabriele Wulf PhD
UNLV

20. THE LEARNING PROCESS
Stags of Learning Characteristics Attentional Demands
Cognitive (Verbal) Movements are slow,
inconsistent, and
inefficient. Considerable
cognitive activity is
required
Large parts of the movement
are controlled consciously
Associative Movements are more
fluid, reliable, and
efficient. Less cognitive
activity is required
Some parts of the movement
are controlled consciously,
some automaticity
Autonomous (Motor) Movements are accurate,
consistent, and efficient.
Little or no cognitive
activity is required.
Movement is largely controlled
automatically
Adapted from R.N. Singer 1988

21. ATTENTION AS A RESOURCE
 Jack Leavitt- Canadian Psychologist first demonstrated the
idea of attention as a limited resource.
 Novice Hockey player
 Experienced Hockey Player
 Both performed Hockey skills through a series of conditions.
 Both were asked to identify geometric shapes while performing
these tasks.
 Results showed a decrease in speed and performance of the Novice
(Leavitt, 1979). Similar results in Soccer (Smith & Chamberlin,
1992)

22. ADJUSTING ATTENTIONAL FOCUS
 Instructing individuals to be consciously
aware of their body movement may be
counterproductive (Singer 1985,1988)
 Experts think externally (Gallwey,
1982;Garfield & Bennett, 1985)
 Five-Step Approach a way to bridge the gap
between awareness and nonawareness for
novice learners.

23. FIVE-STEP MODEL
1 Readying Think positively as to performance expectations
2 Imaging Visualize the results of the action; feel the
movement
3 Focusing Concentrate intensely on one relevant feature of
the situation.
4 Executing Do it when you feel ready. Do not think of
anything about the act itself.
5 Evaluating Use available feedback to learn from in order to
adjust any procedures for next time.
Singer, 1988

24. ADVANTAGES AND LIMITATIONS
 Effective (Singer et al,1991; Singer, Lidor, &
Cauraugh,1993)
 Resulted in improved performance (Kim,
Singer, & Radlo, 1996)
 Limitations are based on slow self-paced
nature. (e.g. personal training setting vs.
field based sports)

25. INTERNAL VS EXTERNAL FOCUS
 Internal Focus - Relative to your body
 External Focus – Relative to the world
around you.

26.  Experienced individuals are better suited to direct
attention towards unrelated things such as the game
strategy as a result of automaticity (motor program)
 Novice individuals
 a. automaticity will become a “Natural” consequence with
practice.
 b. Movement should be executed “as if they were already
automatic”. Essentially speeding up the learning process.

27. EVIDENCE
BALANCE - SKI SIMULATOR
 Experiment 1
 INT Focus “Outer Foot”
 EXT Focus “Outer Wheels”
 CON No Instruction
 RESULTS
 EXT > INT
 INT = CON
BALANCE - STABILOMETER
 Experiment 2
 INT Focus “Keep Feet Same
Height”
 EXT Focus “Keep Markers
Same Height”
 RESULTS
 EXT > INT

28. VERTICAL JUMP
 What would the effects of external focus be
on a task most individuals have previous
experience with?
 5 Trials under three conditions:
 Control (no cue)(4.10 rungs)(0.478 s air time)
 Internal (finger tip) (4.12 rungs)(0.477 s air time)
 External (rungs)(4.79 rungs)(0.491 s air time)
(Wulf, Zachry, Granados, & Dufek, 2006).

29. REDIRECT
YOUR
SPOTLIGHT

31. PLAN YOUR
CUES

32. CUEING EXAMPLES
Performance Context Sport /Action
Goal Jumping forward on one leg
Instructions Internal External
Maintaining balance on foot (Imagine) targets on floor
Performance Context Sport /Action
Goal Running after knee surgery
Instructions Internal External
Knee extension in injured leg Distance covered with
each step
Based on Gentile 1987

33. CUEING EXAMPLES
Performance Context Sport /Action
Goal Hopping after ankle injury
Instructions Internal External
Ankle extension Height of jumps
Performance Context Sport /Action
Goal Dribbling a soccer ball through pylons
Instructions Internal External
Part of foot contacting the ball Part of ball being
contacted
Based on Gentile 1987

34. DISTANCE EFFECTS
 Magnitude of special distance between an external
focus
 Greater the distance between the body and the
effect produced by its movement might further
enhance the learning advantage associated with
External focus (McNevin, Shea, & Wulf, 2003).
 Golf swing (Wulf, Lauterbach, & Toole, 1999)

35. INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES
 Some my have a preference for Internal
 Evidence suggests that when we give
individuals an option they will select External
 Day 1 Switch between internal and external and
choose their preferred.
 Day 2 Utilize their preferred
 Day 3 Retention Test

36. EVIDENCE
 Results
 Day 1- 10/17 internal 7/17 external
 Day 2- 5/17 internal 12/17 external
 Day 3- Retention results showed better
balance and performance with external.
(Wulf, Shea, & Park, 2001)

37. PERFORMANCE VS LEARNING
 An immediate or a relatively permanent
change in a person’s capability to perform a
certain skill (Schmidt & Lee, 2005)

38. STOP TALKING

39. INTERNAL VS EXTERNAL FEEDBACK
 Attentional focus is influenced not only by
what the individual is concentrating on but
also by the feedback provided.
 Is the type of attentional focus induced by
the feedback relevant to its effectiveness?

40. TASK TYPE LOFTED PASSES
Goal Complete lofted pass into hanging target
FEEDBACK INTERNAL FOCUS EXTERNAL FOCUS
1. Position your foot below the ball’s midline to lift
the ball
Strike the ball below its midline to
lift it; that is kick underneath it.
2. Position your body weight and the nonkicking foot
behind the ball.
Be behind the ball, not over it, and
lean back
3. Lock your ankle down an use the instep to strike
the ball.
Stroke the ball toward the target
as if passing to another player .
4. Keep your knee bent as you swing your leg back,
and straighten your knee before contact.
Use a long lever action like the
swing of a golf club before contact
with the ball.
5. To strike the ball, swing of the leg should be a long
as possible.
To strike the ball, create a
pendulum-like motion with as long
a duration as possible.
SOCCER INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL FEEDBACK
(Wulf et al., 2002)

41. REFERENCE
THE BALL

42. ANALOGIES

43. “Strike the ball below its
midline to lift it; kick
underneath it”.

44. NOVICE VS EXPERT
 Base your coaching on the experience in the
movement or activity not necessarily the
athlete’s level of play (e.g. High School,
College, Professional)

45. COACHING
“What do you like
about being a kicker”
“Game resting on my
shoulders”
“Focus on that”
“FOCUS ON THE OUTCOME NOT THE
MECHANICS”
Coach Ron Mckeefery

46. RELATED TOPICS
RECCOMENDATIONS FOR FURTHER EXPLORATION
 Feedback (Visual/Auditory/Tactile)
 Individual Zone of Optimal Function (IZOF)
 Arousal (Cognitive/Physiological/Psychological)
 Motivation (Internal/External)

47. REFERENCES
 Magill, R. A. (2011). Motor learning and control. Concepts and Applications,.
 Leavitt, J. L. (1979). Cognitive demands of skating and stickhandling in ice hockey. Canadian journal of applied sport sciences. Journal Canadian des
sciences appliquees au sport, 4(1), 46.
 Smith, M. D., & Chamberlin, C. J. (1992). Effect of adding cognitively demanding tasks on soccer skill performance. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 75(3),
955-961.
 Singer, R. N. (1986). Sports performance: A five-step mental approach. Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance, 57(4), 82-85.
 Singer, R. N. (1988). Strategies and metastrategies in learning and performing self-paced athletic skills. The Sport Psychologist, 2(1), 49-68.
 Gallway Timothy, W. (1982). Inner Game of Tennis.
 Garfield, C. A., & Bennett, H. Z. (1984). Peak performance: Mental training techniques of the world's greatest athletes. JP Tarcher.
 Gentile, A. M. (1987). Skill acquisition: Action, movement, and the neuromotor processes. Movement science: Foundations for physical therapy in
rehabilitation.
 Singer, R. N., Cauraugh, J. H., Tennant, L. K., & Murphey, M. (1991). Attention and distractors: Considerations for enhancing sport
performances. International Journal of Sport Psychology.
 Singer, R. N., Lidor, R., & Cauraugh, J. H. (1993). To be aware or not aware? What to think about while learning and performing a motor skill. The sport
psychologist, 7(1), 19-30.
 Kim, J., Singer, R. N., & Radlo, S. J. (1996). Degree of cognitive demands in psychomotor tasks and the effects of the five-step strategy on
achievement. Human Performance, 9(2), 155-169.
 Nideffer, R. M. (1976). Test of attentional and interpersonal style. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,34(3), 394-404.
 Wulf, G., Höß, M., & Prinz, W. (1998). Instructions for motor learning: Differential effects of internal versus external focus of attention. Journal of motor
behavior, 30(2), 169-179.
 Hollmann, W., & Hettinger, T. (2000). Sportmedizin: Grundlagen für Arbeit, Training und Präventivmedizin; mit 101 Tabellen. Schattauer.
 McNevin, N. H., Shea, C. H., & Wulf, G. (2003). Increasing the distance of an external focus of attention enhances learning. Psychological
research, 67(1), 22-29.
 Wulf, G., Lauterbach, B., & Toole, T. (1999). The learning advantages of an external focus of attention in golf. Research quarterly for exercise and
sport, 70(2), 120-126.

48. REFERENCES
 Wulf, G., Shea, C., & Park, J. H. (2001). Attention and motor performance: preferences for and advantages of an external focus. Research quarterly for
exercise and sport, 72(4), 335-344.
 Schmidt, R. A., Lee, T., Winstein, C., Wulf, G., & Zelaznik, H. (2018). Motor Control and Learning, 6E. Human kinetics.
 Totsika, V., & Wulf, G. (2003). The influence of external and internal foci of attention on transfer to novel situations and skills. Research Quarterly for
Exercise and Sport, 74(2), 220-232.
 Wulf, G., McConnel, N., Gärtner, M., & Schwarz, A. (2002). Enhancing the learning of sport skills through external-focus feedback. Journal of motor
behavior, 34(2), 171-182.
 Williams, J. M., & Krane, V. (2015). Applied sport psychology: personal growth to peak performance (6th ed.). Singapore: McGraw-Hill.

49. Thank you for your attention
I can be reached through my website.
Don Pump CSCS,*D, NSCA-CPT,*D,RSCC
www.donpump.com
dp@donpump.com