INTRODUCTION: Cognitive-motor skills form a large part of human life, and for many years researchers and educators have attempted to identify factors that influence their implementation. AIM: The present study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of cognitive attentional focus instructions and exercise schedule on cognitive performance in elderly men. METHOD: The present study was a semi-experimental method with a pretest-posttest design and 4 experimental groups. Sixty elderly men from Ahvaz city aged 60 to 80 years were selected by voluntary random sampling in 2020 and randomly divided into four experimental groups (variable practice-internal attention, variable practice-external attention, constant practice-external attention, and constant practice-internal attention). The dartboard attached to the wall served as a tool. The research groups had 10 sessions and each session consisted of 3 blocks of 10 trials. Thus, the test was performed 48 hours after the subjects' last training session. Data were analyzed using one-way ANOVA and mixed repeated measures analysis of variance. RESULTS: The results of one-way ANOVA showed that there was a significant difference between the groups in the posttest phase (p = 0.001, F = 11.43). Tukey's post hoc test was used to test the differences. The results showed a significant difference between the variable practice-external attention group with variable practice-internal attention (p = 0.011), constant practice-external attention (p = 0.001), and constant practice-internal attention (p = 0.001) groups. However, no difference was found between the other study groups at this stage. CONCLUSION: Based on the research results, the combined group with variable practice-external attention performed better than the other groups. Considering that the variable practice-external attention training group showed better cognitive performance, geriatric sneakers and professionals are recommended to use the combined advantage of these two methods in their training plans.

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