Differences in performance ability among experienced athletes: A study on focus orientation and motor imagery of movements

Abstract

 Focusing on the effects of exercise (external focus) is considered more effective for improving motor performance than focusing on one's own physical movements (internal focus). Furthermore, it has been confirmed that imaging the movement being performed is effective for mental training. The purpose of this study was to investigate differences in performance ability among experienced athletes on the basis of their focus orientation and motor imagery of movements, with the aim of using the findings as basic data for sports coaching. The subjects comprised 16 males who had experience playing basketball. Each subject performed 30 free throws. In addition, a questionnaire survey was conducted regarding their focus orientation and motor imagery of movements (movement imagery questionnaire-revised Japanese version). The subjects were divided into a successful group, who achieved above the mean successful free-throw score, and an unsuccessful group, who achieved below the mean score. The results indicated that many subjects in the successful group used external focus, which demonstrated a correlation with the imaging ability of observed movements. These findings suggest that when coaching experienced athletes who are performing poorly, one may consider encouraging them to focus on the effects of each movement and motor imagery of observed movements to improve their performance.