In the initial phase of the study (Study 1) electrocortical arousal (EEG alpha activity) was assessed at four standardized sites (T3, T4, 01, and 02) from male and female (N = 17) international-caliber marksmen during rifle shooting performance. The task consisted of the execution of 40 shots at a conventional indoor target from the standing position. During each shot preparation, a significant increase in left temporal and occipital alpha activity was demonstrated, while the right hemispheric activity remained constant. Hemispheric laterality ratios (T4:T3) evidenced a significant shift toward right-brain dominance as the time to trigger pull approached. In the second phase of the study (Study 2) male and female (N = 15) marksmen performed the same shooting task and, additionally, the resultant EEG performance patterns were contrasted to those observed during the mental processing of sterotyped left-brain and right-brain mental tasks. Observed EEG patterns, that is, temporal ratios, during shooting replicated the results of Study 1, and furthermore, indicated that the laterality indices derived during shooting exhibited a more pronounced shift to right-brain processing than did those derived during right-brain mental task performance. The EEG data obtained during the comparative mental task states were used to interpret the shooting performance EEG findings in terms of the implications from bilateral or split-brain cognitive process theory.
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Cognitive Processes During Self-Paced Motor Performance: An Electroencephalographic Profile of Skilled Marksmen
Brad D. Hatfield, Daniel M. Landers, and William J. Ray
Examination of Visual Information as a Mediator of External Focus Benefits
William M. Land, Gershon Tenenbaum, Paul Ward, and Christian Marquardt
Attunement to visual information has been suggested to mediate the performance advantage associated with adopting an external focus of attention (e.g., Al-Abood, Bennett, Moreno Hernandez, Ashford, & Davids, 2002; Magill, 1998). We tested this hypothesis by examining the extent to which online visual information underpins the external focus advantage. The study examined skilled golfers on a putting task under one of three attentional focus conditions: control (no instructions), irrelevant (tone counting), and external (movement effect focus), with either full or occluded vision. In addition to task performance, the effect of attentional focus and vision on between-trial movement variability was examined. We found a significant advantage for an external focus of attention in the absence of vision. The results of the movement variability analysis further indicated that external focus was not mediated by the online use of vision. We discuss these findings in the context of traditional cognitive perspectives to external focus effects.
Response of Knee Joint Biomechanics to Landing Under Internal and External Focus of Attention in Female Volleyball Players
Lukáš Slovák, David Zahradník, William M. Land, Javad Sarvestan, Joseph Hamill, and Reza Abdollahipour
The aim of this study was to examine the effect of attentional focus instructions on the biomechanical variables associated with the risk of anterior cruciate ligament injury of the knee joint during a drop landing task using a time series analysis. Ten female volleyball players (age: 20.4 ± 0.8 years, height: 169.7 ± 7.1 cm, mass: 57.6 ± 3.1 kg, experience: 6.3 ± 0.8 years) performed landings from a 50 cm height under three different attentional focus conditions: (1) external focus (focus on landing as soft as possible), (2) internal focus (focus on bending your knees when you land), and (3) control (no-focus instruction). Statistical parameter mapping in the sagittal plane during the crucial first 30% of landing time showed a significant effect of attentional focus instructions. Despite the similarity in landing performance across foci instructions, adopting an external focus instruction promoted reduced vertical ground reaction force and lower sagittal flexion moment during the first 30% of execution time compared to internal focus, suggesting reduced knee loading. Therefore, adopting an external focus of attention was suggested to reduce most biomechanical risk variables in the sagittal plane associated with anterior cruciate ligament injuries, compared to internal focus and control condition. No significant differences were found in the frontal and horizontal planes between the conditions during this crucial interval.
