OPTIMAL Theory on Beyond the Stats

Design the Attention: What Coaches Need to Know About External Focus

Tue, 08 Sep 2026 19:34:00 +0900

In the previous post, I explained that a player’s attention is a limited cognitive resource, and what goes wrong when it runs dry.

As a follow-up, this post digs into the practical side: where, specifically, should we point that limited spotlight of attention?

Attention Is a Limited Cognitive Resource

Tue, 08 Sep 2026 18:35:00 +0900

Up to the last post, I explained motivation, one of the two pillars supporting OPTIMAL theory and the learner’s “engine,” and how to draw it out. This time I dig into the other pillar: attention, which handles the “steering” that guides that engine in the right direction.

The Two Pillars That Spark Intrinsic Motivation

Mon, 31 Aug 2026 19:00:00 +0900

From here, I want to dig into the two pillars that act as concrete switches for physically starting the learner’s engine, motivation (intrinsic motivation): enhanced expectancies and autonomy support.

Switch one: enhanced expectancies

“Enhanced expectancies” means raising the learner’s subjective sense of the probability of success in future performance, the feeling that “I can do this” or “it will work next time.” In other words, raising their self-efficacy.

The Science of Intrinsic Motivation: Learners Who Drive Themselves

Mon, 31 Aug 2026 18:13:00 +0900

In the previous post I gave a rough overview of OPTIMAL theory. From this post on, I will start taking it apart. Here I focus on motivation (intrinsic motivation), the fundamental engine that drives the learner, our “car,” powerfully forward.

OPTIMAL Theory: Accelerating Motor Learning

Mon, 31 Aug 2026 16:10:00 +0900

The rise and fall of the information-processing approach

For decades, theoretical frameworks for motor learning have been built on information-processing models. The best-known examples are the three-stage model proposed by Fitts and Posner (1967), made up of the cognitive, associative, and autonomous stages, and Schmidt’s schema theory (1975).