The location of an internal focus of attention differentially affects motor performance.

Prior research has questioned the appropriateness of internal focus instructions or the juxtaposition to external and control conditions. Moreover, there has been a lack of research conducted to test a variety of internal conditions on motor performance. The purpose of the present study was to address those critiques and add to the attentional focus literature by varying the location of an internal focus while performing a standing long jump. Participants performed a standing long jump during five separate conditions (internal focus: toes, knees, hips, arms; and control). The analysis revealed that all internal focus conditions performed worse than the control condition. Furthermore, the only difference between internal conditions was found between arms and knees, where the knee condition resulted in a significantly shorter jump distance relative to the arms. Regardless of the location specified, all internal focus conditions led to detriments in jump performance when compared to the control condition. These findings add to a large body of work demonstrating the importance of instructional content on motor performance.

Off the shelf: Investigating transfer of learning using commercially available virtual reality equipment.

The evolution of virtual reality (VR) has created the opportunity for a relatively low-cost and accessible method to practice motor skills. Previous studies have demonstrated how motor skill practice in non-immersive virtual environments transfers to physical environments. Though minimal research has investigated motor learning and transfer within immersive VR, multiple experiments provide empirical evidence of positive transfer effects. Most studies have used software engines and modified hardware to enhance the similarities between virtual and physical environments. However, many learners and practitioners currently use commercially available VR intending to enhance real-world performance, though there is very little evidence to support the notion of positive transfer for these systems. Therefore, this experiment aimed to investigate how motor skill practice using a commercially available VR system improved real-world performance and how that compared to physical practice. Participants (n = 68) were randomly selected into one of two groups: virtual reality (VR) practice (n = 33) or real-world (RW) practice (n = 35). The experiment occurred over two consecutive days, with a pretest, posttest, and practice phase occurring each day. The pre- and post-testing phases were identical for both groups and consisted of putting a golf ball 10 times on a carpeted surface towards the center of a target. The practice phases consisted of 60 total putts per day in the respective environment (VR or RW). Participants continuously alternated golf putting holes from three different distances until they accrued 60 total putts. Participants in the RW group performed golf putts to three targets. Participants in the VR group also performed golf putts on three different miniature golf putting holes, using the commercially available Oculus Rift and the Cloudlands VR Minigolf game. The VR putting targets were designed to replicate the putting holes in the physical environment. Separate 2 (group) x 4 (test) repeated measures ANOVAs were used to assess accuracy and club head kinematics. The results revealed a significant main effect for test, but not for group. Post hoc analyses revealed that both groups significantly improved their putting accuracy and club head kinematics at similar rates. The results from this study indicate that the transfer of learning that occurred as a result of practicing in a commercially available VR environment was similarly effective when compared to RW practice.

Directing Attention Externally Produces Consistent Vertical Jump Assessment Results.

Recent research has demonstrated that consistent external attentional focus instructions produce more reliable jumping measurements compared to non-consistent focus of attention instructions. While previous research has examined the effects of different external attentional focus instructions, less is known about different external focus of attention instruction effects during a vertical jump. Given that previous work has demonstrated that consistent external focus of attention instructions produced reliable jumping estimations, we hypothesized that using multiple methods to direct attention externally would produce consistent vertical jump results. Using a within-participant design, college aged students (n = 35) completed two vertical jumps on a VertecTM within five conditions. Each condition was provided different external directing instructions conditions (control; external-lower near, -upper near, -upper far, -unreachable far). Data were analyzed using a repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA). Results showed that jump heights in the control and external focus of attention conditions were not significantly different from one another, p = .119. The findings of this study suggest there are numerous external focus of attention instructions that can be provided during a vertical jump producing consistent results.

Effect of Coronavirus 19 on Maintaining Balance in Skilled Athletes.

Preliminary studies have reported that motor control is negatively impacted following an infection of COVID-19. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of COVID-19 on maintaining balance in highly skilled athletes. As part of a larger investigation that was initiated in 2019, twelve professional handball players were recruited to participate in a study that was designed to measure static balance performance. Following the initial pre-test, six participants (body height 184.8 ± 4.7 cm; body weight 85.5 ± 3.3 kg; age 21.3 ± 1.2 years) were infected with COVID-19. The remaining six participants (body height 188.7 ± 2.6 cm; body weight 92.3 ± 3.7 kg; age 26.3 ± 3.3 years) never tested positive for COVID-19 and were presumably not infected with the virus. The experimental design required all the participants to complete an initial balance assessment (pre-test) and a later balance assessment (post-test). To fully analyze our data, we conducted a 2 (condition: COVID, no-COVID) X 2 (test: pre-test, post-test) ANOVA with repeated measures on the second factor. Our analysis revealed that the skilled athletes who contracted COVID-19 had a significant decrease in balance performance from the pre-test that occurred prior to being infected with COVID-19 relative to the post-test that occurred following the COVID-19 infection. Additionally, the skilled athletes who were not infected with COVID-19 did not demonstrate the same deterioration in balance performance in the same period. This study highlights the impact COVID-19 has on static balance performance in a group of highly skilled handball players. Longitudinal studies are needed to fully understand the lasting impacts COVID-19 has on motor behavior.

Effects of an expert-modeled attentional focus cue structure on skilled jump rope performance and learning.

Instructions that direct attention externally have been shown to enhance motor performance. However, research on skilled performers and on learning effects has produced some distinct findings. Further, many studies have presented an overly simplistic view of attention and learning, such that all-internal focus protocols are contrasted with all-external focus protocols. Contrary to this approach, skilled performers have reported adopting combined focus strategies, revealing the need to test more realistic instructional protocols. The current study provided an experimental test of focus instructions that were modeled after the strategies of elite jump rope athletes. Four groups of skilled jump rope athletes practiced novel skills under various focus instructions. The internal focus (IF) and external focus (EF) groups were given traditional internal and external focus instructions, respectively. The expert modeled (EM) group was given a set of instructions that were based on experts' reported focus strategies. The expert modeled-autonomous (EM-A) group was allowed to choose how they used each of the expert-modeled instructions. All groups completed a baseline assessment, four practice sessions, and a learning assessment. Results of a chi-square test of independence revealed no relationship between group assignment and performance during baseline or practice. There was a significant relationship between group assignment and performance during the learning assessment (p < .05). Specifically, the IF group performed below expected values while the EM group performed better than expected. Findings support previous research showing learning detriments associated with internal focus instructions and also provide new insight into the advantages of using instructional approaches that are modeled after experts' strategies. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.