Effect of Attentional Focus on the Performance of Motor Skills. A Meta-Analysis and Survey

Focus of attention is the direction of cognitive resources towards a particular focus. Focusing externally on the outcome of the movement has been found to be beneficial in the performance of skills such as sprinting, jumping, throwing, balancing and even in rowing, as well as helping create a more automatic process. The purpose of this thesis was to compare the effects of different cues on sprint and jump performance in acute studies and to determine the influence of moderator variables using a meta-analysis. A survey was later conducted following the findings of the meta-analysis to determine the level of understanding both coaches and athletes have and if there’s a discrepancy based on their individual differences. For a study to be included in the meta-analysis it must have compared internal and external cues, utilised a cross-sectional study design and measured either jumping or sprinting tasks. The meta-analysis used an inverse-variance random-effects model. Effect sizes were represented by the standardized mean difference and presented alongside 95% confidence intervals. Twenty-two studies were included in the meta-analysis. There was a small main effect size [0.30(95% CI 0.19, 0.40, Z=5.46(p<0.00001)] favouring the use of external coaching cues compared to internal coaching cues for enhancing performance with no moderator variables performing better under an internal focus compared to an external one. To take part in the survey an individual had to be either an active athlete or coach. The results of the survey found coaches to have a greater understanding of attentional focus than athletes with experience along with strength and conditioning qualifications being an indicator of increased use of external cues. Overall, an external focus of attention has been shown to be superior to an internal focus and coaches and athletes could be educated more in this field to attempt to aid future athletic development.