Effect of individual preferences on 20-yard sprint performance in novice athletes: A quasi-experimental study

This study sought to investigate the effect of individual preferences on 20-yard sprint performance in novice athletes. Initially, 94 physically and mentally healthy female physical education students were randomly selected from the same university and age range. From this sample, 24 participants were randomly assigned to three groups of eight. In each group, the examiner determined the type of attentional instruction for the skill execution. The three groups were (1) no-focus/non-preference condition, (2) proximal-external focus/non-preference condition, and (3) distal-external focus/non-preference condition. Subsequently, the remaining 70 participants performed a 30-yard sprint under three attentional conditions (proximal-external, distal-external, and no-focus) as a trial run. Experiments were performed in the context of a 20-yard sprint task. Participants were instructed to have either a proximal-external focus (cones placed 5 yards apart) or a distal-external focus (the 20-yard finish line). Participants in the preference groups were asked to choose their preferred focus of attention, while in the non-preference groups, the experimenter assigned the attentional focus. The preference group demonstrated mean records of 4.04 (SD=0.06) seconds, 4.0 (SD=0.10) seconds, and 3.92 (SD=0.11) seconds, respectively. Under the same conditions, the non-preference group achieved mean times of 4.06 (SD=1.05) seconds, 4.03 (SD=0.09) seconds, and 3.92 (SD=0.09) seconds. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) on 20-yard sprint performance revealed a significant main effect for the type of attentional instruction (P=0.223, F=4.15). However, no significant main effect was found for preference type (P=0.250, F=1.33). Furthermore, the two factors had no significant interaction effect (P=0.879, F=1.29). A significant difference was found between the mean 20-yard sprint records under no-focus and distal-external focus (P=0.022). Additionally, no significant difference was observed between the mean 20-yard sprint times under distal-external and proximal-external focus conditions (P=0.175). These findings prove that distance's effect on attentional focus is a global phenomenon and does not depend on individual preferences.