Standing long jump is known as one of the important skills in the success of athletes in most sports. In addition, one of the most effective factors that can affect standing long jump distance and kinematics is the focus of attention used by the athlete. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to compare the effect of internal, external, and holistic focus of attention instructions on standing long jump performance and kinematics. The participants were 30 novices (all males; mean age = 21.70 ± 2.21 years; mean height = 175.73 ± 6.09 cm; and mean weight = 73.76 ± 11.77 kg) who performed 12 standing long jumps in four focus of attention conditions. Internal focus, external focus, holistic focus, and control conditions were implemented in a counterbalanced order. Jump distance and maximum knee flexion angle before take-off were recorded in all trials. The results showed that in relation to the standing long jump performance, the distance was similar in external and holistic focus conditions, and both were superior to internal or control conditions. There was no difference between control and internal focus of attention conditions. The results related to movement kinematics, however, did not report a difference between the maximum flexion angles before take-off. This study replicates the benefits of external and holistic focus instructions for jump distance, but this difference was not a product of different maximum knee flexion angles. It is suggested that coaches implement external and/or holistic focus cues to maximize athlete performance in jumping tasks.

An external focus of attention and autonomy support are identified as key factors to optimize motor learning; however, research in children is limited. Moreover, research has failed to examine these factors in ecologically valid motor learning settings, like physical education. Therefore, the present study examined the effects of external focus of attention when delivered using autonomy-supportive or controlling instructional language on children’s motor learning. Thirty-three novice participants (10.30 ± 0.52 years) practiced a land-based curling task under supportive (external-focus instructions delivered with supportive language), controlling (external-focus instructions delivered with controlling language), or neutral (external instructions embedded in the task aim) conditions before completing a retention and transfer test. The supportive group produced higher positive affect after practice and greater accuracy in the retention test compared with the other groups. The findings provide support for the OPTIMAL (optimizing performance through intrinsic motivation and attention for learning) theory of motor learning that combining an external focus and autonomy support conditions improves motor learning.

Quiet eye training, a technique focused on optimizing gaze behavior during critical moments, has shown potential for enhancing motor skill acquisition. This study investigates the effects of quiet eye training in both virtual and real-world environments on dart-throwing learning. The participants consisted of 45 female students who were randomly divided into three groups: a control group (age: M = 22.46 ± 2.89), real-world (age: M = 23.80 ± 2.75), and virtual quiet eye training groups (age: M = 24.33 ± 2.25). The training sessions spanned 2 days, with each session consisting of 60 dart throws divided into 20 blocks of three trials each. The virtual group used an Xbox Kinect motion sensor to throw virtual darts, while the real-world group threw real darts at a dartboard. Both experimental groups followed specific visual training protocols. The control group, on the other hand, threw real darts at a dartboard without receiving any visual training. Results showed that both experimental groups enhanced QE duration, but only the real-world group significantly improved throwing accuracy. These results highlight the importance of sensory information specific to the task in motor learning, supporting the specificity of practice hypothesis.

Background and Objectives: Sports performance is influenced by a variety of perceptual, cognitive, and motor factors. A better understanding of these factors can help coaches optimize training and improve athletic performance. The present study examined the acute effects of internal, external, and holistic attentional focus instructions on javelin-throwing performance under different visual conditions in novice performers. Methods: Twenty-four university students (12 females and 12 males; mean age: 21.50 ± 1.47 years) with no prior javelin-throwing experience completed 30 throws under six experimental conditions (5 throws per condition) based on three attentional focus instructions (internal, external, and holistic) and two visual conditions (vision-present and vision-absent) using a within-subject repeated-measures design. Throwing distance was measured as the primary performance outcome. Results: The results revealed significant main effects of both vision (F_{(1, 23)} = 14.49, p = 0.001, ηp² = 0.38) and attentional focus (F_{(2, 46)} = 5.73, p = 0.006, ηp² = 0.20). Overall throwing performance was superior when visual information was available compared to when vision was occluded (p = 0.001). In addition, both external and holistic focus conditions produced significantly greater throwing distances than the internal focus condition (p = 0.03; p = 0.04, respectively), with no significant differences observed between external and holistic focus (p > 0.05). No significant interaction was found between attentional focus and vision (F(_{2, 46}) = 0.74, p = 0.48, ηp² = 0.03), indicating that the effect of attentional focus did not significantly differ between the visual conditions. Conclusions: The present findings extend the attentional focus literature to a complex, whole-body ballistic skill, demonstrating that the adoption of external and holistic attentional focus instructions resulted in greater throwing distances than the internal focus condition in novice javelin throwers.