Broad external focus

Broad external focus is one of the four types of attention in Nideffer's model: broad in scope and directed outward. The athlete reads many external objects at once without fixing on any one of them. This mode is responsible for reading the game and assessing the situation quickly.

A point guard in basketball, a midfielder in football or a helm in sailing all hold a broad external view constantly, to see the options. A player with good broad external focus reads the field and finds the free teammate before anyone else. Attention that is too narrow in these roles costs tempo and produces inconsistent results.

Attentional style and a disposition toward a broad view are measured by the attention questionnaires in the tests section. They show whether the wide mode is comfortable for the athlete or whether they get lost in the flood of information. Interpretation is best done with a specialist.

Broad external focus is developed through peripheral vision work, game tasks like "find three players in space", and watching video with pauses at decision points. Alternating widening and narrowing on the coach's cue is useful. The practices are in the exercises section.

Its opposite in scope is narrow external focus, and in direction broad internal focus. Moving quickly between the wide view and pinpoint attention is attentional shifting. All of this is part of overall attentional focus.