The retest of the learning benefits of an external focus of attention in golf

The purpose of the present study was to replicate the findings of Wulf et al. (1999) and to examine whether external focus advantages would be found relative to a control condition without focus instructions in the learning of a sport skill under field-like conditions. In this experiment, thirty right-handed students with little golf experience were randomly assigned to one of the three groups (internal focus, external focus and control groups). They were required to hit golf ball to a target as accurately as possible. During practice, all participants performed 60 trials (6 blocks of 10 trials). Internal focus group participants were instructed to direct their attention to their arm movements, external focus participants were instructed to direct attention to the swing of the club, and the control group did not get any attentional focus instructions. One day after practice, a retention test of 10 trials without instructions was performed. The results of this experiment showed that external focus instructions were more beneficial relative to internal focus instructions. That is, the present study replicated the golf study of Wulf et al. (1999). In addition, an external focus of attention was more beneficial than the control condition in retention.