Implementing holistic focus of attention in pirouette

Presenter: Emily Coons

Co-Presenter(s):
J.T. Bymaster, Cate Smith, Cinthya Romano, Emily Coons, Leslie Gaona, Ellen Freeman, Kendall Hernandez, & Sophia Winchell

Presenter Status: Undergraduate student

Academic Year: 22-23

Semester: Spring

Faculty Mentor: Yonjoong Ryuh

Department: Kinesiology

Funding Source/Sponsor: Koret Scholars Program

Abstract:
The benefit of an external focus over an internal focus has been well-established (Chua et al., 2021). Empirical findings consistently suggest that an external focus of attention results in superior performance by facilitating automatic processing, when compared to an internal focus that relies more on conscious processing of movement control. However, it is challenging to identify an effective external focus cue for certain skills (e.g., gymnastics/dance routines, figure skating) and for certain populations (e.g., individuals with visual impairment). To date, holistic focus of attention (i.e., focus on the general feeling of movement) has emerged as an alternative to an external focus that has similar performance benefits to external focus by avoiding conscious control of movements (Becker et al., 2018). This study aimed to corroborate the benefits of holistic focus of attention over internal focus on dance motion by testing pirouette performance in both novice and experienced dancers. We assessed trajectory of the center of pressure (i.e., predicted ellipse area; PEA) during the pirouette movements using a force platform in the laboratory, and 29 healthy young adults were asked to perform three pirouettes under each of five attentional focus cues: internal; external-proximal; external-distal; holistic; and control conditions. The statistical analysis indicated that there was a significant difference in pirouette performance quality measured by PEA between novice and experienced performers, F(1)=77.604, p < .001, ηp2 = .79. However, inconsistent with our hypothesis, the data did not indicate a significant effect among the five attentional focus conditions in both novice, F(4)=1.51, p = .21, ηp2 = .10, and experienced dancers, F(4)=.17, p = .96, ηp2 = .02. Despite statistical insignificance, a contradictory finding was noted that the internal focus cue led to superior pirouette quality when compared to other attentional focus cues in novice performers while the experienced dancers were not affected by the type of attentional focus cue. The findings for this study are promising in that it was against a consensus. Therefore, more trials to examine the optimal focus of attention in complex motor skills, such as a pirouette, are needed.