Attentional focusin team sports:: Effects of an intervention program onfootballplayers
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Juan Martín Tassi [2] ; Miguel A. López-Gajardo [1] ; Jesús Díaz-García [1] ; Tomás García-Calvo [1] ; Inmaculada González-Ponce [1]
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[1] Universidad de Extremadura
Universidad de Extremadura
Badajoz, España
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[2] Argentine Football Association
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- Localización: European Journal of Human Movement, ISSN-e 2386-4095, ISSN 0214-0071, Nº. 50, 2023, págs. 52-61
- Idioma: inglés
- Enlaces
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Resumen
The cognitive processes that influence athleticperformance have been increasinglystudied in recent years. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to evaluatethe effects of an intervention programme aimed at improvingthe attentionalfocus of football players,usinggame situations similar to competitive ones. The participants were 46 male footballplayers belonging to the youth academy ofa first divisionArgentinefootballclub, who were divided into an experimental group and a control group. The methodological design was quasi-experimental, with pre-intervention, post-intervention,and follow-up measures. The measuresused werethe Psychological Inventory of Sport Performance was used. The results showed significant differences in thevariableattentional controlin favour of the experimental group compared with the control group after the intervention period and during the follow-up period. On the other hand, the otherof the variables analysed (negative coping control, visual image control, positive coping control,and attitudinal control) did not show significant differences between the two groups, but there was a positive trend in the experimental group after the intervention. In conclusion, the use of strategies related to attentional focusin habitual tactical and specific football training tasks seems to have a positive effect on attentional control
