Attention and Concentration in

Sports
 Three components of attention

Focusing on relevant environmental cues

1.

Selective attention: select what cues to

attend to and disregard.
2. Maintaining attentional focus
3. Situational awareness
The ability to understand what is going on
around oneself
 Why and When?
• Why?
- some individuals are more capable of
developing a narrow, non-distractable type of
attention.
- this is especially true of world class
performers in sports.
- Almost every failure in performance is
attributed to a lapse in concentration
• When?
 What affects it?

• What things break my focus?

• What things distract me?
• What things help me concentrate?
How do I deal with things that might distract
•

me?
 Concentration and optimal
performance
Elite athlete peak performance is associated
•

with
–Being absorbed in the present and having no thoughts
about past or future.
–Beingmentally relaxed and having a high degree of
concentration and control,
–Being in a state of extraordinary awareness of both
the body and the external environment.
 Theoretical Approaches

• Humanistic
–Flow state

• Cognitive
–Information processing/capacity theories
–Nideffer’s theory of attentional styles

• Biological
–psychophysiology
 Flow
•Sense of fluidity between your body and mind,
where you are totally absorbed by and deeply
focused on something, beyond the point of
distraction.
• Time feels like it has slowed down.
• Your senses are heightened.
You are at one with the task at hand, as action
•

and awareness sync to create an effortless

momentum.
flow state describes a feeling where, under the
•

right conditions, you become fully immersed in

whatever you are doing.
•the human mind can process up to 120 bits of
information per second.
When we’re challenging ourselves with a task,
•

our mind reaches full capacity.

If the activity at hand happens to be something
•

we enjoy and we’re good at, we achieve a flow

mental state — and it can leave us feeling
ecstatic, motivated and fulfilled.
 Flow
• Action-awareness merging
• Clear goals
• Unambiguous feedback
• Concentration on the moment
• Loss of sense of time
• Loss of self consciousness
• Feeling in control
Nideffer’s Theory of Attentional
Styles
Broad Attentional Focus
A broad attentional focus allows a person to
•

perceive several things simultaneously.

This is important in sports where you have to be
•

aware of several things at once because the

situation is rapidly changing.
An example of this would be when a basketball
•

player is dribbling a ball down the court.

• Their environment is constantly changing.
Narrow Attentional Focus
A narrow attentional focus occurs when you
•

respond only to one or two things.

A good example of this would be when a martial
•

artist is about to break a board.

The only thing they have to focus on is the
•

board.
External Attentional Focus
An external attentional focus is when a
•

person's attention is directed outward, either to

an object or to an opponent's movements.
An example of this would be when a martial
•

artist is in a sparring match.

They have to focus their attention on their
•

partner's moves that they are throwing so they

can react appropriately.
Internal Attentional Focus
This is when a person's focus is directed inward
•

to their personal thoughts and feelings.

For example is when a gymnast is mentally
•

preparing before doing a flip.

• Four attentional styles
• Individuals have a preferred style
• Different styles needed for different sports
Preferred style needs to match that required
•

sport
Understanding attentional styles can improve
•

coaching effectiveness
• Where is your typical zone when playing?
• What happens under pressure?
Could different situations demand different
•

types?
 Types of attentional focus

Several types of attentional focus are

•

appropriate for specific sport skills and activities

When the environment changes rapidly,
•

attentional focus must also change rapidly

Time pressures during a competition make this
•

difficult
 How is it useful?
Being able to switch to the most appropriate type for
•

the situation is essential.

Indviduals who score highly on measures of switching
•

ability tend to be the better players

•Also better players are the ones who can selectively
narrow their focus and still not miss important
information (Catching high ball but being aware of a
tackler)
The same applies to players who can attend to many
•

stimuli without becoming overloaded (ball + opposition

+ gaps + team mates position)
 Applications
●Performers revert to preferred style when
arousal levels are high
 Psycho physiological approaches
Psycho physiological measures
EEG (brain activity)
●Elite shooters can voluntarily reduce cognitive activity
and enhance performance
Heart rate
●Elite shooters experience cardiac deceleration just
prior to performance
Decreases in HR accompany externally directed tasks
●

Increases in HR accompany internally directed tasks

●
 Psycho physiological approaches
Electroencephalogram (EEG)
●Measures amount and location of electrical
potentials generated by neurons
● Provide on-line measurement

●Target sport performers show increase in left

hemisphere alpha wave activity
 Attentional errors
● Overload
● Internal distractions
–Physical/mental

–Rewinding/fast-forwarding

● External distractions
● Focusing on the wrong cues
● Deautomisation- a disturbance of the spatial, temporal,
speed, and power parameters of movement in man
 Overload
You can only think of a few things at once, for
●

most people it is 7+_2

●Hence its is important to carefully choose what
things you focus on, the things that matter to
you and your game.
●What type of attentional focus does your
position require? Is this your usual style?
 Overload
Can construct an attentional performance
profile for the athletic position to identify what
type of attentional style can be adopted at
different points in the game.
 Overload
●When does my concentration tend to break
down?
●Does my concentraion tend to break down at
certain times or performing certain skills?
●Most top players agree that as you move up the
grades the pace of the game increases
considerably and therefore the ability to make
the right decisions quickly is critical.
 Internal Distractors
● Attending to past events (What was?)
● Attending future events (what if?
● Choking under pressure
● Over analysis of body mechanics
● Fatigue
 External Distractors
● Visual distraction
● Auditory distraction
● Gamesmanship
 Deautomization

●Well-learned skills are effective because they

are automated (ie, they require no conscious
control)
●Pressure/stress/anxiety can cause a skilled
performer to try and take control of an
automated process.
●This can effectively return the performer to
playing like a beginner
 Techniques for improving
concentration
● Internal training
–Cuing- trigger word/stimuli (smooth or drying
ball before line-out)
–Positive response to failure- not focusing on
mistakes. Imagining successful attempt instead.
Using positive self-talk
–Developing (Re)focusing skills- can actually
practice focusing
–Process goals- to ensure you stay focused on
 Techniques for improving concentration
● Scanning and focusing exercises
● Simulation training
● Gal setting
● P re-performance routines
● Visualization
● Self-talk
● Biofeedback
● Triggers
● Centering
● Thought parking