🔗 Research Paper

**📄 National Library of Medicine:** A Distal External Focus of Attention Facilitates Compensatory Coordination of Body Parts

📖 About

Overview

This 2022 research paper examines how different types of attentional focus (internal, proximal external, and distal external) affect movement coordination and performance outcomes. The study specifically investigates how focusing on more distant targets enables better functional variability and movement coordination.

Key Findings Relevant to Swing Genius

1. Attentional Focus Effects

• Distal external focus (focusing on the target/outcome) produced:
  • Higher accuracy scores
  • Better movement coordination
  • More efficient functional variability
• These findings validate Swing Genius's emphasis on having users focus on target-based outcomes rather than body mechanics

2. Movement Coordination

The study found that distal external focus:

• Allows for better compensatory coordination between body parts
• Enables more natural movement patterns
• Reduces "freezing" of degrees of freedom in movement
• Increases functional variability while maintaining consistency

3. Application to Swing Genius Design

Smart Objects

• Placement at varying distances supports the paper's findings about distal focus benefits
• Allows users to progress from proximal to more distal focus points
• Provides external reference points that don't interfere with natural movement patterns