Attentional Focus and Feedback Timing in Children's Tennis Skill Learning

Overview

This study evaluated how different attentional focus instructions and feedback timing affect tennis motor skill learning in children aged 9 to 12 years. The study used a school-clustered 4 × 2 factorial quasi-experimental design involving four primary schools in Shenzhen, China. Each participating school implemented one of four attentional focus conditions: distal external focus, proximal external focus, internal focus, or neutral instruction. Within each school, eligible children were assigned to either immediate feedback or delayed summary feedback, resulting in eight experimental conditions. All participants completed the same standardized tennis training program for 12 weeks, with three 90-minute training sessions per week. The study assessed children's performance in four tennis skills: forehand, backhand, volley, and serve. Skill-performance attainment and technique evaluation were assessed before and after the intervention. Retention and transfer of the learned skills were additionally assessed two weeks after completion of the intervention. The study was designed to determine whether attentional focus, feedback timing, or the interaction between these two factors influences children's acquisition, retention, and transfer of tennis motor skills.

The study used a school-clustered 4 × 2 factorial quasi-experimental design to investigate the effects of attentional focus and feedback timing on children's tennis motor skill learning. The first experimental factor was attentional focus, with four levels: distal external focus, proximal external focus, internal focus, and neutral instruction. The second factor was feedback timing, with two levels: immediate feedback and delayed summary feedback. The four attentional focus conditions were implemented at the school level. Each participating school was assigned one attentional focus condition according to the study implementation arrangement. Within each school, eligible participants were balanced according to sex, grade, and baseline tennis skill level and were then randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to either the immediate-feedback condition or the delayed-feedback condition using a computer-generated random sequence. This procedure resulted in eight experimental conditions. All groups received the same standardized tennis training program for 12 weeks. Training was conducted three times per week, with each session lasting approximately 90 minutes. The training program included forehand, backhand, volley, and serve practice. The training content, progression, facilities, equipment, and instructor qualifications were standardized across study sites. The experimental differences between groups were limited to attentional focus instructions and the timing of feedback. In the distal external-focus condition, children were instructed to focus on outcomes such as the ball's target location and flight trajectory. In the proximal external-focus condition, they focused on the interaction between the racket and the ball. In the internal-focus condition, they focused on body movements, movement technique, and force production. The neutral-instruction condition used conventional instructional language without a specific attentional focus cue. Participants receiving immediate feedback were provided with instructional or technical feedback immediately after each performance, whereas participants receiving delayed summary feedback received feedback after completion of a practice set. Tennis motor skill learning was evaluated using standardized assessments of forehand, backhand, volley, and serve performance. The study examined skill acquisition after the 12-week intervention and subsequently assessed retention and transfer of the learned skills after a post-intervention interval.