External focus of attention delivers superior punches with the preferred hand but not with the non-preferred: A comparison of internal, external and holistic focus of attention
Download this article Faezeh Mohammadi Sanjani */**, John Van Der Kamp *, Abbas Bahram ** and Geert Savelsbergh *
(*) Movement Sciences, Faculty Of Behavioural And Movement Sciences, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
(**) Department Of Motor Learning And Control, Faculty Of Physical Education And Sport Science, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran
Citation
Sanjani, F.M., Van Der Kamp, J., Bahram, A., Savelsbergh, G. (2024). External focus of attention delivers superior punches with the preferred hand but not with the non-preferred: A comparison of internal, external and holistic focus of attention. International Journal of Sport Psychology, 55(5), 483-502. doi:10.7352/IJSP.2024.55.483
Abstract
This study investigated the degree to which differences in the effects of external, internal and holistic focus of attention relate to movement automaticity by comparing performance between the preferred and non-preferred hand in a karate punching task. Thirteen experienced karate players (age 35.9±16.6 years) completed reverse punches (i.e., gyaku-zuki) on a boxing bag with external, internal and holistic focus instructions using both their preferred and non-preferred hand. Results confirmed the advantage of an external focus relative to an internal focus. No differences were found with holistic focus. In addition, for peak wrist velocity this differential attentional focus effect only occurred in the preferred hand. For impact force, no difference of attentional focus was found between the two hands. These observations are consistent with the constrained-action hypothesis, entailing that an external focus delivers superior performance compared to an internal focus for movement control that is (more) automatized, as per preferred hand.
Keywords: Karate, Focus Of Attention, Constrained-Action Hypothesis, Hand Preference, Automatization