The effects of external focus of attention on standing triple jump performance.

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to determine if the use of external focus of attention has an effect on standing triple jump performance. External focus is where a subject focuses on an object or a focal point outside of themselves when performing a task. Nineteen female athletes from a university were recruited for the study. Testing consisted of 9 standing triple jumps. Each subject performed three practice jumps and three tests jumps under an external focus condition and a control condition. The variables measured were horizontal body displacement in meters, and horizontal ground reaction force (HGRF) and vertical ground reaction force (VGRF) in newtons from the initial take-off jump. A cone was used as a focal point during the external focus condition. Paired sampled t-tests were used to find a difference in jump distance and GRF between the two conditions. Non-significant results with a p value greater than the Bonferoni adjusted values of .0167 were seen in jump distance (p = .142) with a mean difference of -0.094 meters favoring the external focus condition, HGRF (p = .363) with a mean difference of 6.469 newtons favoring the control condition, and VGRF (p = .753) with a mean difference of 23.589 newtons favoring the control condition. It was seen that an external focus of attention does not have an effect on standing triple jump performance.