Performance and Positive Psychology for Sport
Focus and Attention
“Be here now.”
All performance happens in the present moment.
Williams James famously said (125 years ago) “Everyone knows what attention is. It is the taking possession by the mind, in clear and vivid form, of one out of what seem several simultaneously possible objects or trains of thought. Focalization, concentration, of consciousness are of its essence. It implies withdrawal from some things in order to deal effectively with others…”
Separating signal from noise is a vital skill!
Concentrating on the right things at the right time is one of the most important skills an athlete can possess. All athletes recognize that they have difficulties concentrating for the duration of a performance or at specific times. Difficulties concentrating are usually due to distractions. Rather than concentrating on appropriate cues, athletes become distracted by thoughts, emotions and other events. These distractions can be both internal and external:
Internal Distractions
- Cognitions (thoughts)
- Emotions (feelings)
- Worries and concerns
- Living in the past, worrying about what already happened (especially mistakes to avoid).
- Outcome focus, living in the future — thinking about results, outcomes and consequences.
- Negative self-talk or self-coaching. What you say to yourself really matters! Tell yourself what to do, not what to avid.
- Anxiety — high arousal and anxiety can narrow your attentional field (that is, tunnel vision) and decrease environmental scanning. Alternatively, low arousal can cause a broadening in your attentional field and a focus on irrelevant cues.
- Fatigue — focus requires effort, so if you are feeling fatigued it can sometimes be difficult to find the energy required to maintain your focus.
External Distractions
- Things you don’t have any control of — weather, crowd, competitors, scoreboards, television, course conditions, injuries, talking, laughing, traffic, mobile phones, etc.
- Gamesmanship — trash-talk, other’s performance or results
Focusing Strategies
Focus and concentration are skills that can be improved and worked on just like a physical skill. There are a number of sport and non-sport related strategies and exercises that can be used to assist you in enhancing your attention and concentration skills. These are:
- Environmental information – What do you need to know to perform?
- Simulation training – identifies the types of distractions that are present during competition and systematically incorporate and learn to manage these distractions in training.
- Cues and triggers – identify some key words/phrases that remind you of what you need to do when you need to do it.
- Positive self-coaching – repeat positive self-statements/affirmations (“I got this”, “I am totally ready to go”, “Watch this”, “Here comes pay day”).
- Break time (recovery) – identify appropriate points during training or competition at which to ‘switch on’ (that is, direct attention and energy to the task at hand) and ‘switch off’ (that is, allow thoughts/attention to shift to a non-performance focus).
- ‘Parking’ thoughts – try ‘parking’ your distracting thoughts. This involves putting them aside until a later time, typically by using a rational self-talk instruction or form of imagery that places the troublesome thought in a secure and non-distracting place until after the performance.
- ‘Be here and now’ – the only time frame that you have any control over is the present and therefore focusing is critical.