Research in Sports Management and Movement Behavior

The effect of increasing distance of external focus and preference on performance accuracy in dart throwing

Abstract
The present study examined the effectiveness of distal versus proximal external

foci of attentions a function of performers’ preferences for a certain focus. dart

throwing task were used, and participants (N=20) were instructed to direct their

attention either to the target (distal focus) or the flight of the dart (proximal focus).

Participants were asked to select their preferred focus after one trial under each

focus condition without knowledge of results. Subsequently, all participants

performed two 24-trial blocks, one under each condition, with focus order

(preferred first vs non-preferred)counterbalanced.

Degree of significance was regarded as p<0.05. Dart throwing accuracy was

generally enhanced when participants adopted a distal focus, regardless of focus

order or preference. The present findings provide further evidence that the

“distance” effect in attentional focus is a general phenomenon that does not

depend on individual preferences.

Keywords

Attentional focus
Distance effect
Preferred focus
Dart throwing
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