Why did Tiger Woods shoot 82? A commentary on Toner and Moran (2015)

Authors

Gabriele Wulf, University of Nevada, Las VegasFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-1-2016

Publication Title

Psychology of Sport and Exercise

Volume

22

First page number:

337

Last page number:

338

Abstract

In a recent article, Toner and Moran (2015) argued that athletes need to pay conscious attention to body movements, and that an external focus of attention would not be effective for continued improvement at the elite level. Their arguments appear to be based on misunderstandings of the attentional focus literature. In this commentary, I clarify that adopting an external focus does not imply that performers are not aware of their body movements. Rather, an external focus (i.e., focusing attention of the intended movement effect) refers to the preparation of movement execution. I maintain that an external focus is necessary to optimize performance and learning at any level of performance. © 2015 Elsevier Ltd.

Keywords

Focus of attention; Learning; Performance; Sport

Language

English

Repository Citation

Wulf, G. (2016). Why did Tiger Woods shoot 82? A commentary on Toner and Moran (2015). Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 22 337-338.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2015.05.006