Paralysis by analysis? A functional framework for the effects of attentional focus on the control of motor skills

Recent experimental evidence suggests that to effectively learn a motor skill, athletes should not focus on their movement. While this finding contests commonly held beliefs, it also lacks a theoretical basis. It can be shown that classic cognitive theories of motor control or of attention do not provide for such a basis. Therefore, based on functional approaches, where the function of attention is the selection‐for‐action of stimuli, and movements are controlled by their anticipated effects, an integrative framework is proposed. Here, movements can be governed by either “nodal point”, a strategy in which internal or external effects within a movement are attended to, or external control by the final effect in the environment. Experimental findings in support of this framework are mentioned, and implications are discussed.