Effects of internal and external attention focusing strategies on running performance

The effects of attentional direction on running performance in track and field was investigated in the present study. Four high school track teams from the New York City and Long Island area were randomly assigned to a no treatment control group or to four training sessions of either Internal focus 1 (pain management), Internal focus 2 (pain utilization) or External focus treatment strategies. Methods similar to Nideffer's attention control training were employed. Forty-four runners competing in the 800 meter, and 21 competing in the 1600 meter races were used, and results were analyzed separately. Baseline measures of performance time from three meets prior to the intervention were taken. Performance times were subsequently collected throughout the remainder of the outdoor track season. It was hypothesized that all three strategies would lower performance times, with the internal focus groups showing the greatest improvement.; For the 800 meters, t-tests indicated that significantly lower performance times following treatment were found for the Internal Focus I group (p {dollar}<{dollar}.005), Internal Focus II group (p {dollar}<{dollar}.01) and External Focus group (p {dollar}<{dollar}.005), with the latter demonstrating the greatest performance gain. The control group showed no significant improvement over this interval. Analysis of variance on the differences was significant (p {dollar}<{dollar}.005), and post hoc analysis using the Tukey-HSD procedure showed that the External Focus group improved significantly compared to the control group. Analysis of the Running Styles Questionnaire indicates that subjects reported focusing their attention in the directions they were taught. Analysis of variance on mean differences among groups for the Ratings of Perceived Exertion Scale was not significant.; For the 1600 meters, t-tests indicate significant improvements (p {dollar}<{dollar}.05) following the treatment interval for the External Focus group and the control group. Analysis of Variance on the mean difference scores was not significant. Analysis of the Running Styles Questionnaire, and the Borg Scale were not significant.; These results tend to support the belief that external focusing strategies were effective for running an 800 meter race. Further investigation is necessary to explore the effects of attentional focus on pain perception, and performance in races of greater length.