Effects Of Attentional Focus On Standing Long Jump In Trained Jumpers

Standing long jump is a measure of power. Prior studies have shown that external attentional focus yields in better athletic performance than internal attentional focus, but the effect of external focus on limb force on jumping is unknown. PURPOSE: To examine the effects of attentional focus on force production and jump distance in the standing broad jump with competitive long jumpers. We hypothesized that both external foci will yield longer jumps than internal focus. This research will help determine the best types of instructions coaches should use to improve performance in power tests. METHODS: Twelve current NCAA Division III Track & Field athletes (age = 19.6, 8 male), all experienced long and/or triple jumpers, gave informed consent and participated in the study. Prior studies have not examined attentional focus with trained long jumpers. Subjects completed a 5-minute warm-up on a cycle ergometer, then performed 5 practice jumps after a CSCS-certified coach demonstrated proper form. The subjects completed a total of 16 jumps, 4 per condition, and had 2 minutes of rest between trials. Subjects started with their toes behind a line placed on the force plate and performed their jump onto the wooden platform at the same height as the force plate. The distance was recorded from the heel of the back foot upon landing. We measured ground reaction forces of each jump. Instructions for all jumps were to jump as far as possible for control trials, to jump as far past the line for external performance, to jump as forcefully as possible for external kinetic, and to extend knees as fast as possible for internal. Condition order was randomized. We compared jump distance across conditions with a one-way, repeated measures ANOVA and post hoc t-tests. RESULTS: There was a significant main effect of focus condition on distance (p = 0.013), with significantly farther jumps in the control condition (240.84 ± 8.9 cm), than internal (234.53 ± 9.1 cm, p = 0.039) or external kinetic (236.55 ± 8.7, p = 0.022) focus. The external performance focus (238.97 ± 8.7 cm) did not significantly differ from any other condition. External kinetic focus was similar to internal focus (p = 0.50). CONCLUSIONS: In trained long jumpers, a focus on the goal (i.e. jump distance) results in better performance than a focus on other constraints, such as force or joint movement.