The effect of increasing distance of external attention on electromyography in dart throwing

The aim of present study was investigating the effect of electromyography in the external focus distance on dart throwing. The subjects included 20 male physical education students aged 19-24 years in Kharazmi University. We used a dart throwing task، and participants were instructed to direct their attention either to the target (distal focus) or the flight of the dart (proximal focus). All participants performed two 24- trial blocks on each condition. Data analyses conducted with using paired sample t test. The results showed that increasing distance of external focus affects positively on performance accuracy (radial error P=0. 003، Two- Dimensional Error P=0. 01. (But it doesn’t effect on muscles EMG activity (P>0. 05). The instruction of distal external foci will lead to more accuracy than proximal external foci and therefore results better performance of the dart throwing skill. Also، results indicated that different condition of external focus of attention doesn’t lead to increase in muscle activity and therefore have not effect on individual performance. To more accurate performance، the instructors can attract their apprentice attention into instructions of distal external focus.