Impacts of Attentional Focus on the Trunk on Shuttlecock Velocity and Swing Motion during Badminton Smash

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of different attentional focuses, specifically trunk rotation, on shuttlecock velocity and smash movements in badminton.A total of 13 experts (all male, mean age: 19.90.8years,height: 172.25.1cm,weight: 66.23.9kg, years of experience: 12.4 1.9years, all at the national competition level, all right-handed) participated, executing smashes under three different attentional conditions: arm internal focus (AIF), trunk internal focus (TIF), and external focus (EF).This study analysed 1) shuttlecock velocity, 2) joint velocity, 3) upper joint and trunk rotational angle, 4) angle velocity, and 5) trunk rotational range.On comparing the effect of attentional focus in terms of shuttlecock velocity, TIF was observed to be significantly higher than AIF.In hand joint maximum velocity, TIF was significantly higher than the other conditions.The maximum angle velocity of the trunk (lower torso) rotation was significantly higher in TIF than the other conditions.Trunk (lower torso) rotational angle velocity was also higher in TIF than the other conditions at each phase.The trunk (lower torso) rotational range showed a significant difference between TIF and AIF.However, there were no differences observed in upper joint angles.These results indicated that instructing an internal focus of attention may improve performance when focusing on larger muscles (proximal muscles) rather than smaller ones (distal muscles).Furthermore, directing focus on the twisting of the trunk proves effective as a strategy for improving shuttlecock velocity and hand joint maximum velocity during the smash motion in badminton.