Efeitos de diferentes focos de atenção no desempenho de um teste de agilidade em adolescentes

Abstract

The aim of the study was to investigate the effects of directing attention on the performance of an agility test in adolescents. In addition, we sought to measure the participants' adoption of the prescribed instructions on the focus of attention. The sample consisted of 19 participants (9 boys and 10 girls), of both sexes, with a mean age of 14.04 ± .06 years, who performed an "L" agility test in three diferente conditions: external focus, internal focus and no determined focus. Each of the participants practiced each experimental condition five times on diferente days and had their movement times recorded. After each trial, all participants answered a questionnaire regarding the focus of attention used. An inferential analysis was carried out using the one-factor analysis of variance test to check for possible differences in the focus of attention instructions and a descriptive analysis for the focus use questionnaires. The results showed no differences in agility test performance between the diferente focus of attention conditions (p = .380). On the other hand, it was found that the majority of participants focused their attention externally (63.3%), internally (57.7%) and without a specific focus (74.4%). The results allow us to conclude that directing attention did not influence the performance of an agility test in adolescents.