Examining the Time Course of Attention During Golf Putts of Two Different Lengths in Experienced Golfers

Abstract

A dual-task paradigm was used to investigate the time course of attention during putting relative to task difficulty (6 ft vs. 12 ft). Putting performance and reaction time (RT) were measured while 20 experienced golfers responded verbally to an auditory tone presented at 3 probe positions (PP) during the putt: backswing initiation (PP1), backswing peak (PP2), and before impact (PP3). There were 2 significant main effects for putting performance: task difficulty (better performance on the short putt) and probe position (worse performance at PP1 vs. PP3 and Catch Trials). During the short putt, there were no significant differences in RT as a function of PP, indicating that attentional demand remained constant throughout the stroke. RT of the long putt was significantly longer than the short putt, indicating that the long putt required greater attention. Skill level was examined as a potential moderating factor but did not significantly moderate results.