Temporal framing of external focus instructions enhances golf putting accuracy in novices

Simpson, Thomas and Cory, Leyton and Queen, Callum and Owen, Robin and Saemi, Esmaeel and Marchant, David (2025) Temporal framing of external focus instructions enhances golf putting accuracy in novices. Human Movement Science, 105. ISSN 0167-9457

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Abstract

A plethora of studies have investigated internal and external foci of attention effects on motor performance. However, few studies have considered the temporal aspects of these foci. Within the present study, 26 novice participants (22 males, 4 females; Aged 18–21 years) were instructed to focus their attention either on maintaining a square clubface at impact (i.e., swing-impact condition) or maintaining a square clubhead throughout the swing (i.e., throughout-swing condition). Although both conditions were external foci, it was hypothesised that the swing-impact would provide more task-relevant information and facilitate movement automaticity during the backswing and follow-through. Participants who focused on maintaining a square clubface at impact demonstrated significantly better putting accuracy than those who focused on maintaining a square clubface throughout the swing (p = .047). These findings highlight how subtle changes in instructional language, particularly those that affect temporal components, affect motor performance. Instructions may be optimal when they focus attention for a short temporal duration and only on the most task-relevant point of execution (e.g., impact). Future studies are encouraged to explore the interaction between temporal and task-relevance features of instruction.

Item Type:	Article
Faculty / Department:	Faculty of Human and Digital Sciences > School of Health and Sport Sciences
SWORD Depositor:	RISE Symplectic
Depositing User:	RISE Symplectic
Date Deposited:	17 Dec 2025 16:17
Last Modified:	17 Dec 2025 16:17
URI:	https://hira.hope.ac.uk/id/eprint/4812

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