Golf skill learning: An external focus of attention enhances performance and motivation

Abstract

An external focus of attention has been shown to enhance the performance and learning of motor skills, relative to an internal focus (see Chua, Jimenez-Diaz, Lewthwaite, Kim, & Wulf, 2021). In the present study, we examined possible motivational consequences of learners’ experience of greater movement success with an external focus. Participants were asked to learn a golf pitch shot. In addition to measuring learning, we assessed self-efficacy, as well as positive and negative affect in groups that received external versus internal focus instructions. Furthermore, we examined the feasibility of providing several focus instructions in the same practice session as the learning of complex skills typically requires more than one instructional cue. The results showed that skill learning was enhanced by instructions that promoted external foci, as measured by golf shot accuracy on delayed retention and transfer tests. The external focus group also showed higher positive affect and reduced negative affect at the end of practice, and higher self-efficacy before retention testing, compared with the internal focus group. These findings provide support for several assumptions of the OPTIMAL theory (Wulf & Lewthwaite, 2016). From a practical perspective, they highlight the attentional and motivational benefits of an external focus.