The attentional and control styles of adult female volleyball players

The role of attention in athletics has been known to be a determining factor to successful performance and outcome. In the sport of volleyball, athletes are required to shift their attentional focus constantly because of the ever changing environment. To be successful, an athlete must be able to broaden and narrow their focus to concentrate on the most relevant cues that will give them an advantage over their opponent. By determining the attentional abilities of athletes and how they effect level of performance, one could provide the information that coaches and consultants could use to train individuals to become elite performers. The purpose of this study was to describe the interrelationships among task demands of position played, level of performance, and attentional focus and control factors for elite female volleyball players in the outside hitting, middle blocking, and setting positions. The participants for this study, (N = 30), were highly skilled Division I female volleyball athletes. All participants were members of a conference regulated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association, (NCAA). The top ten outside hitters, middle blockers and setters were chosen through statistical performance measures related to each specific position. The participants were asked to complete the Test of Attentional and Interpersonal Style (Nideffer, 1976a) questionnaire which was administered to them by a member of their coaching staff. Following the return of the data, a case study file was made for each athlete which included: (a) the position played, (b) TAIS profile, and (c) game statistics. The results of this study indicated that each athlete's attentional and control profile had unique characteristics that differentiated it from the others within the respective positions. There were no specific group patterns among the outside hitters, middle blockers, or setters in the TAIS profiles. Also, because of physical characteristics and individual strengths and weaknesses, each athlete's overall performance measures were different. Combining the uniqueness of each athlete's TAIS profile with their individual statistics, suggested no consistent interrelationships among athletes playing the same position. These conclusions supported the position of Nideffer (1990, 1981, 1976a), that the TAIS is an instrument to be used with individuals to develop specific training and counseling programs. Thus, a coach or consultant must do research on each specific athlete and then along with the TAIS profile determine reasons for performance strengths and weaknesses. Once these reasons have been established, a training and counseling program can be developed to show an athlete how and why they may be performing a certain way and what is needed to strengthen their abilities so that they may achieve a higher level of performance.