The effects of distance of attentional focus on accuracy, effectiveness, and perception of performance in volleyball jump serving of elite players

The aim of this study was to examine the effects of attentional focus on accuracy, effectiveness, and perception of the performance in volleyball jump serve of professional players. 12 professional volleyball players completed a 4 blocks of 8 trail (4 for accuracy, and 4 for effectiveness) of jump serve in four experimental conditions (Non-Instruction, Internal focus on hand movement, Near external focus on ball, and Far external focus on target zone or player). The data of accuracy, effectiveness, and self-perception of the performance was acquired by pointed target areas, analyzing volleyball serve effectiveness method, and selfrated manipulative check, respectively. Results of ANOVA with repeated measures showed that accuracy scores, effectiveness, and self-perception of the performance in far external condition was better than near external and internal conditions. In addition, the significant differences between non-instructional and far external conditions were observed only in self-perception of the performance. On the whole, these results confirmed recent findings regarding the detrimental effects of internal focus of attention and the facilitative effects of external focus of attention on skilled performance, especially far external focus.