Adarq.org

Background

In recent years, there has been a proliferation of technology and sport science utilized within an athlete's training, especially at the elite level. However, the sport science is a broad field, encompassing disciplines such as biomechanics, motor control and learning, exercise physiology, sports medicine, sport psychology to name a few. Rarely are these disciplines applied in an integrated manner. The purpose of this study was to document the effectiveness of an integrated biomechanics and motor control protocol for improving athlete's performance in the high jump.

Methods

Four elite high jumpers performed baseline jumps under normal conditions and then jumps using a specific external focus of attention cue designed to improve their running posture. Three-dimensional biomechanical analysis was used to quantify the upright posture throughout the approach as well as horizontal velocity at plant and vertical velocity at takeoff.

Results

The results showed that when using the external focus of attention cue, the jumpers were significantly more upright during the approach, had significantly higher horizontal velocities at plant, and generated significantly greater vertical velocities during the takeoff.

Conclusion

The results of this study lay the foundation for future work examining how integrating sport science disciplines can improve performance of elite level athletes.

When a performer adopts an internal focus of attention, he or she is thinking about the movements of their body. In contrast, an external focus of attention is utilized when a performer thinks about the effects of their movements on the environment. The focus of attention literature overwhelmingly suggests that compared to an internal focus of attentions, when performers adopt an external focus of attention, they demonstrate better outcome and performance production measures.5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 The literature also suggests that high level performers benefit more from using an external focus of attention than novice performers.10, 11 and 12 Therefore, using appropriate focus of attention cues is critical for optimizing elite level sport performance.

For the intervention a small piece of athletic tape was placed on the athlete's shirt, approximately at the level of the navel. In an effort to ensure that the athlete adopted an upright posture prior to entering the curve, while also focusing their attention externally, the participants were instructed to “lead with the tape” as they transitioned from the 4th to 5th steps of the approach. Participants completed two practice runs while being verbally cued between the 4th and 5th steps, and then completed a second jump for analysis.

The duration of time spent on the penultimate step was not different between pre- and post-intervention; however, the percentage of horizontal velocity lost during the penultimate step was reduced after the intervention. Moreover, the horizontal velocity brought onto the plant step was higher after the intervention and the vertical velocity at the end of the takeoff was also higher after the intervention

The results of the current study are in agreement with a growing body of attentional focus literature which suggests that using an external focus of attention improves outcomes and performance production measures. An external focus of attention has been documented to improve performance in activities involving whole body movements such as standing long jump,9 vertical jump and reach,19 baseball batting,12 golf swing,10 and 11 swimming,20 and in activities involving small movements and fine motor control such as dart throwing8 and playing of musical instruments.21 The benefits of an external focus of attention compared to an internal focus of attention can be explained using the constrained action hypothesis. According to the constrained action hypothesis, an internal focus of attention causes performers to intervene in control processes that regulate the coordination of movements, inadvertently overriding processes that allow for efficient movement. In essence, an external focus of attention allows more efficient movement.