Chapter 15
Concentration and Strategies
for Controlling It
Jean Williams, Robert M. Nideffer, Vietta E. Wilson, and Marc-Simon Sagal
“When I’m focused, there is not one single thing, person, anything
that can stand in the way of my doing something.”
Michael Phelps, winner of 18 Olympic gold medals
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Concentration
Under maximal demands, it entails:
1. Selective attention to appropriate cues
2. Keeping appropriate focus over
appropriate length of time
3. Quickly shifting attention based upon
changing demands.
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Lost Concentration
• Attention to irrelevant cues
• Inappropriate divided attention
• Can’t remember name after introduction because also focusing on making a good impression
• Left the here and now
•
• Become aware of gaps in experience
• Performance level is suffering
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When are we most likely to have problems concentrating?
• When stressed out
• When overmotivated
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Attentional Control Training (ACT)
1. Different sport situations = different
attentional demands, so the athlete must shift
to the appropriate type of concentration
2. Under optimal conditions, the average person
can meet the concentration demands of a
wide variety of performance situations.
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ACT
4.
(cont.)
Individual differences exist in attentional abilities…individual athletes have different attentional strengths and
weaknesses
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ACT (cont.)
5. The individual’s ability to perform effectively depends on 2
factors: the appropriateness of the dominant attentional
style, and the level of confidence
6. Choking occurs as physiological arousal increases – causes
attention to narrow and muscles begin to tighten
7. Alterations in the focus of attention also affect physiological
arousal
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Types of Concentration
• Width of Focus
• Direction of Focus
- Broad
-
-
- External
Results in Four Dimensions of Attention
EXTERNAL
Assess
Perform
BROAD
Analyze
Rehearse
INTERNAL
NARRO
W
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Types of Concentration
EXTERNAL
BROAD
Quarterback dropping
back to pass
Basketball player starting
a fast break
Golfer assessing hole
Lawyer presenting to a
jury
Hitter tracking the ball
Sighting as a marksman
Golfer addressing a ball
Reading a test question
Reading in noisy setting
Analyzing mental
strengths
Coach formulating a
game plan
Planning essay answer
Clinician forming a
diagnosis
Monitor neck and
shoulder tension
Deep breath to relax
Mentally rehearse a skill
Memorize a fact
INTERNAL
NARROW
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Assessing attentional strengths
and weaknesses
• The Attentional and Interpersonal Style (TAIS)
• Measures athlete’s relevant concentration skills and interpersonal characteristics
• Also benefits from interviews, behavior rating scales, observations, and other assessment tools
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TAIS
• BET Broad External Attention: High scores = good environmental
awareness and assessment
• OET Overloaded by External Information:
• BIT Broad Internal Attention: High scores = good analytical
planning skills
• OIT Overloaded by Internal Information: High scores = errors due
to distractions from irrelevant internal sources
• NAR Narrow-Focused Attention:
• RED Reduced Attention: High scores = errors due to a failure to
shift attention from external to internal or vice versa
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Choking
• The athlete becomes focused on the increasing pressure and physiological arousal gets too high
• Athletes “blow it” under high stress and cannot regain control without some outside assistance
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How to Prevent and Treat Choking
• Recognize and eliminate the physical
feelings associated with excessive tension
• Reinterpret physical feelings as facilitative
• When performing, train to focus on the
process rather than outcome
• Provide training to recover quickly from
the unexpected
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Training for Better Control of Concentration
1.
Coaches and sport psychologists assisting athletes in identifying the different attentional styles and
when to use them
Narrow-external drills
•
•
•
Narrow-to-broad external drills
Narrow-internal drills
•
•
Narrow-to-broad internal drill
Intention leads to attention
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Training for Better Control of Concentration
(cont.)
• Do NOT assume athletes automatically know where to look and how to focus
• Create drills that help athletes find the focus that best suits them
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External Factors: Strategies to Minimize External Distractions
• Athletes need to be trained not to react to irrelevant external stimuli
• Systematically train before a competition to be situationally independent
1. Dress rehearsal
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External Factor Strategies
• Strategy 1: Dress Rehearsal
• Effective for sports such as gymnastics, diving, synchronized swimming, and figure skating
• Conduct frequently after athletes have mastered a new skill and are practicing for the whole
routine
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External Factor Strategies
(cont.)
• Strategy 2: Simulated Competition Experiences
• Enables athletes to concentrate and dissociate from the disruptive
stimuli
• Over train athletes in worst case scenarios
• Wet ball drills
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External Factor Strategies
(cont.)
• Strategy 3: Mental Rehearsal
• Use mental rehearsal to create the high stress and external
distractions in competition, then imagine effectively
performing and concentrating under those conditions
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Internal Factors: Strategies to
Stay Focused
• Coaches or sport psychologists must help train the
athlete’s mind to exert control - concentration
inhibits distraction
• Strategies
1. Centering
2. TIC-TOC
3. Use of Biofeedback
4. Increasing focusing and refocusing skills
5. Developing performing protocols
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Internal Factor Strategies
• Strategy 1: Attentional Cues and Triggers
– Athletes use visual, verbal, and kinesthetic cues to focus
their concentration and to refocus once it has been lost
– Center attention on the most appropriate focus within
the task at hand
– Cues focus on: positives (not negatives), the present (not
past or future), and the process (not outcome)
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Internal Factor Strategies (cont.)
• Strategy 2: Centering
– Technique for controlling physiological arousal and for ignoring
negative and task-irrelevant stimuli
– Understanding centering:
– Center of mass:
– Centered: When your body weight is distributed about the center
of mass in a way that feels comfortable
– Centering: Process used to adjust weight about your center of
mass so you feel centered
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Internal Factor Strategies (cont.)
• Strategy 3: TIC-TOC
• Use the words TIC and TOC to trigger a response
• TIC = any self-statements or thoughts that are irrelevant to the immediate task
• TOC =
• Strategy entails becoming aware to TICs and immediately making them TOCs
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Internal Factor Strategies (cont.)
• Strategy 4: Turning Failure into Success
• Mentally rehearse successful performance after a failure/error
• Dwelling on the failure is more harmful than making a
performance error
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Internal Factor Strategies (cont.)
• Strategy 5: Use of Brain Biofeedback
– Brain efficiency can be measured and trained
using computerized EEG biofeedback
– Athlete uses his/her brain waves to control the
attentional display on the computer
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Internal Factor Strategies (cont.)
• Strategy 6: Focusing/Refocusing Skills
– Teaches performers to gently hold attention on a
predetermined task and, if attention wanders, to bring
attention back
– Similar to meditative practices
– One pointing
– Video games
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Internal Factor Strategies (cont.)
• Strategy 7: Pre-performance and Performance Protocols
– Develop pre-set behavioral protocols for use during
warm-ups, practice, and specific times during
competition
– Cue body and mind
– PRACTICE!!!
– Will automatically trigger the needed arousal, thinking,
and focused concentration
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