Game Changer....

It’s at the end of the hall, the last door on the right; three floors up and down the hall where quietly, although not for long, some of the most important research to come out about feedback was developed, proven and sustained. John Kessel’s Grow the Game blog featured her work in his post two weeks ago and several members of USA Volleyball have taken notice.

Dr. Gabriele Wulf, a Professor in the Department of Kinesiology and Nutrition Sciences at UNLV and the principal researcher into external v. internal focus.

We reached out to Dr. Wulf and she was gracious and accommodating in our interview with her. Unassuming and humble, Dr. Wulf is open and confident of her research and where it will lead coaches going forward.

In the 38 minute interview, found here, Dr. Wulf talks about her research and where it is taking her and the world of training athletics.

In her own words, here is a sampling of what Dr. Wulf’s research has to offer.

“The definition of an external is a focus on the movement effect on the environment so typically that’s the ball that you are manipulating; hitting, throwing, kicking, whatever, as opposed to your foot or your hand that is doing the work so to speak. An internal focus is that, focusing on body movements that you use to… balance; when you tell a tennis player to focus on the swing of their arm, or a golfer, that would create an internal focus.”

“We use images which is another good way to promote an external focus.”

“One thing that is important to keep in mind is that when we are talking about external focus or internal focus, we are talking about the planning of the movement we are about to do. So what do we concentrate on when we’re about to execute a serve? That does not mean you are not aware of your body movements. I think that’s something important to keep in mind.”

“One of the interesting things happening in the brain when we think about the self and the body movements in this case, is that those activations in the brain tend to interfere with our movements.”

“Technique in sports is oftentimes complex but sometimes one little tip will elicit a much better technique.”

“Physical Therapists and golfers were among the first to really get interested in this research and I think golfers for an obvious reason: it’s so hard to hit a golf ball well so they always struggle.”

“There is a study that was done in the UK in which participants were asked to focus on the trajectory, the target and the landing point of the ball versus the club head or the wrist; that was internal. You had the proximal external focus: the club face and then a more distal one, the ball trajectory and that also was better than the proximal external focus and internal focus.”

“In the feedback literature where the gist is essentially you shouldn’t get feedback very often. The reasoning behind that is that people become dependent on feedback when they get too much of it and they never learn to interpret their own feedback. I question that. There are other reasons less feedback is better: people don’t feel criticized all the time, that’s one. Also, we have shown in two different studies that when feedback is worded in an external way, more is actually better. If it’s worded in an internal way, then less is better.”

“In 2013, a review article was published for which I looked at all the articles out there and I couldn’t find a single study that showed the opposite: that in internal focus was better than an external focus. It’s so reliable.”

It’s time to climb on board coaches. This is a game changer of how we, as coaches, can get more from our athletes; more effective training and better retention of what we are coaching. And be sure to listen to the end for the unveiling of Dr. Wulf’s new research which is another game changer in coaching.

Thank you Dr. Wulf for your time with the Arizona Region.