Effects of Attentional Strategies on Novice Dart Throwing, Quiet Eye Duration and Pupillary Responses

This study examined the effects of focus ofattention (FOA) instructions on learning a dart throwing task,quiet eye duration (QED) and pupillary responses. Thirty-sixnovices (M age ¼ 33.6, SD ¼ 19.7) learned using either (a)internal-focus (arm movement), (b) external-focus (target/dart)or (c) control instructions before completing retention andtransfer tests 10 days later. FOA strategies did not significantlybenefit dart throwing learning or performance. QED was associated with performance in the transfer task, and pupillary constriction occurred during the QED. The content of FOAinstructions may have limited anticipated performance benefitsand reduced the FOA influence on QED. Pupillary constrictionreflected increased cognitive effort during QED, suggesting animportant feature of future precision aiming research

Autonomy-Supportive, External-Focus Instructions Optimize Children’s Motor Learning in Physical Education

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

The Effect of Stroboscopic Vision Training on Eye-Hand Coordination

Objectives: Recent research suggests stroboscopic vision training may enhance some aspects of vision perception and attention. The present work investigated whether a stroboscopic training intervention improved Eye-Hand Coordination (EHC) performance using a Sport Vision Trainer (SVT™). Design: EHC training was completed in two conditions; Strobe (SG) vs Control (CG) using a between-participants experimental design. Methods: Sixteen sports participants were assigned to either SG (n = 8) or CG (n = 8) with ability matched across groups. Following a vision and baseline (BL) EHC assessment, SG completed a 10 min training intervention wearing Nike Vapor Strobes®, whilst CG trained without. Post-training retention tests (RT) were administered immediately, 10-min, and 7-days after training. A Visual Search (VS) task was completed prior to training and after 7-days to identify any transfer effects. Results: A 2 (Group) x 3 (Time) RM ANOVA indicated main effect for Group. The SG performed significantly (p < 0.05) quicker in all three RT versus the CG: Immediate (0.97s quicker compared to 0.43s slower than BL), 10-min (0.97s compared to -0.15s), and 7-days-later (0.55s compared to -0.11s) respectively. Significant differences were observed between groups in the VS task (SG = 1.37s compared to CG = -2.01s). Conclusion: A short EHC training session using stroboscopic glasses supports previous research proposing improvements in certain aspects of vision perception. Future research should explore these mechanisms further using different exposure, frequencies, and focused identification of training drills as a complementary EHC intervention