We are also increasingly looking at the influence of attentional focus in endurance sports. Different aspects can be the focus of attention during endurance sports. For example, a runner could concentrate mainly on her breathing, focus on the execution of her running technique or pay attention to her surroundings and other runners. In a recent study, we were able to demonstrate that this focus of attention has a significant influence on athletic performance (Schücker, Hagemann, Strauß & Völker, 2009). In this study, we chose economy of movement as the performance parameter. The economy of movement in endurance sports is defined by the oxygen consumption at a submaximal intensity. This means that if less oxygen is consumed per unit of time at a certain movement speed, then this movement behavior is more economical.
In terms of oxygen consumption, this study showed significant differences depending on the focus of attention. Despite the same running speed, the external condition (focus on external aspects) produced the lowest oxygen consumption, followed by the movement-related attention condition and the internal focus on breathing.
As an explanation for the superiority of the external focus, we draw on explanations from the field of motor skills research: in the external condition, undisturbed automated processes are possible, whereas in the internal condition it is precisely these automatisms that are disturbed. The greatest possible economy appears to be possible precisely when automatic control mechanisms are not disrupted in their function. Further studies will show the extent to which the external focus (distraction of automatic control mechanisms) also leads to an improvement in running parameters in other conditions.
