An External Focus of Attention Enhances Golf Shot Accuracy in Beginners and Experts

Numerous studies have shown that one factor influencing motor skill learning is the learner’s focus of attention induced by instructions or feedback. Specifically, instructions that induce an external focus of attention, whereby attention is directed to the movement effect on the environment (e.g., implement), can enhance learning. Such instructions have been shown to be more effective than those that induce an internal focus by directing attention to the movements themselves (see Wulf, 2001). For example, Wulf, Lauterbach, and Toole (1999) had participants without golf experience practice pitch shots. Whereas one group of participants was instructed to focus on the pendulum-like motion of the golf club (external focus), another group was instructed to focus on their arm movements (internal focus). The results showed that the external focus group was considerably more accurate in their shots than the internal focus group. Other studies have shown advantages of adopting an external focus for learning a ski simulator task (Wulf, Höß, & Prinz, 1998, Experiment 1), basketball shooting (Al-Abood, Bennett, Hernandez, Ashford, & Davids, 2002; Zachry, Wulf, Mercer, & Bezodis, 2005), volleyball serves and soccer passes (Wulf, McConnel, Gärtner, & Schwarz, 2002), as well as various balance tasks (e.g., Totsika & Wulf, 2003; Wulf et al., 1998, Experiment 2; Wulf & McNevin, 2003). Benefits of an external focus have also been found for daily life activities in persons who had a cerebrovascular accident (Fasoli, Trombly, Tickle-Degnen, & Verfaellie, 2002) and balance in individuals with Parkinson’s disease (Landers, Wulf, Wallmann, & Guadagnoli, 2005). The benefits of adopting an external focus of attention have been explained with the constrained action hypothesis (e.g., McNevin, Shea, & Wulf, 2003; Wulf, McNevin, & Shea, 2001). According to this view, individuals who direct their attention to their movements (internal focus) while performing a motor skill control their actions in a relatively conscious manner. This, in turn, tends to constrain the motor system and disrupt automatic control processes. In contrast, focusing on the movement effect, or adopting an external focus, has been shown to promote use of automatic processes. For example, Wulf et al. (2001) found reduced probe reaction times (RTs) for participants adopting an external focus while practicing a balance task (stabilometer), compared to those adopting an internal focus. Faster probe RTs are generally assumed to indicate reduced attentional demands, or a greater degree of automaticity. Furthermore, the frequency of movement adjustments was higher under external relative to internal focus conditions, again indicating a more automatic, reflex-type mode of control (see also McNevin et al., 2003). While most studies examining attentional focus effects on motor performance and learning compared internal and external focus conditions, only a few included control conditions without attentional focus instructions (e.g., Landers et al., 2005; Wulf et al., 1998, Experiment 1; Wulf & McNevin, 2003; Wulf, Weigelt, Poulter, & McNevin, 2003). In those studies, internal focus and control conditions resulted in similar performances, whereas an external focus produced superior performance or learnAn External Focus of Attention Enhances Golf Shot Accuracy in Beginners and Experts