Concentration and Strategies for Controlling It

1. Chapter 16 Concentration and Strategies for Controlling It Jean Williams, Bob Nideffer, Sue Wilson, Marc-Simon Sagal, and Erik Peper

2. WHAT ATHLETES SAY “From the beginning, I realized you have to take one point at a time and lock into a kind of concentration zone….If I concentrated, I could win a lot of points in a row while opponents were thinking about other things.” (Chris Evert, Former World #1 Professional Tennis Player)

3. WHAT ATHLETES SAY (cont.) “I was never more focused in a race. No looking about, tunnel vision all the way, my concentration was so intense that I almost forgot to look up to see my time after touching the finish pads.” (Michelle Smith, Olympic Gold Medalist, cited in Roche, 1995, p.1)

4. Concentration • The ability to direct one’s attention to appropriate cues in the present task while screening out irrelevant external and internal stimuli. External Stimuli Audience booing Bad officiating Unsportsmanlike conduct Internal Stimuli Distracting body sensations Irrelevant feelings Dysfunctional thoughts

5. Concentration (cont.) What do we mean by good concentration? Under maximal demands, it entails: • Selective attention to appropriate cues • 100% attention to the task at hand • Staying totally in the here and now • Keeping appropriate focus over appropriate length of time • Quickly shifting attention based upon changing demands.

6. Lost Concentration When • Attention to irrelevant cues • Left the here and now • i.e, thinking of past or future outcome • Inappropriate divided attention • Ex.: Can’t remember name after introduction because also focusing on making a good impression • Become aware of gaps in experience • Ex.: Reading book chapter and later become “alert” and don’t know what read • Performance level suffering • Not always, but more often than not

7. Problems Concentrating Often Occur • After mistakes • When stressed out • When not sufficiently motivated • When over motivated

8. Attentional Demands and Skills • Nideffer’s Attention Control Training principles provide one of the best foundations for understanding: - dimensions of attention - resulting attentional demands of different tasks - attentional skills needed for good concentration

9. Principles of ACT (con’t) Play to one’s strengths (i.e., dominant attentional style) as pressure increases, which is good if confident and style matches – bad if it does not Choking (performance progressively deteriorates and cannot control w/o help) occurs as physiological arousal increases -- causes attention to narrow and go internal to negative thoughts/feelings Alterations in physiological arousal affect concentration Alterations in the focus of attention also affect physiological arousal

10. Types of Concentration • Consider Width of Focus • - broad • - narrow • Consider Direction of Focus • - internal (strategize, feelings, etc.) • - external (ball, opponent, etc.) • Results in Four Dimensions of Attention: EXTERNAL BROAD NARROW INTERNAL

11. Types of Concentration EXTERNAL BROAD NARROW INTERNAL

12. Exercise: Do Your Own Attentional Style Analysis EXTERNAL BROAD NARROW INTERNAL

13. TAIS Attentional Style Scales • BETBroad External Attention: High scores = good environmental awareness and assessment • OETOverloaded by External Information: High scores = errors because focus on irrelevant external stimuli • BITBroad Internal Attention: High scores = good analytical planning skills • OITOverloaded by Internal Information: High scores = errors due to distractions from irrelevant internal sources • NARNarrow-Focused Attention: High scores = can remain oriented on task and avoid distractions • REDReduced Attention: High scores = errors due to a failure to shift attention from external to internal or vice versa

14. Prevention and Treatment of Choking • Train performers to recognize and lessen physiological over-arousal • Practice in situation specific scenarios • Train performers to reinterpret physical feelings as facilitative (e.g., “I’m ready”) • Use simulation and rehearsal to compensate for lack of experience and desensitize to unexpected • When performing, train to focus on cues related to the process rather than outcome • Develop detailed and consistent pre-performance routines • Provide training to recover quickly from the unexpected

15. Centering Definitions • Center of mass: • Where the imaginary vertical and horizontal lines through your body intersect (somewhere behind your belly button) • 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

16. Centering Technique • Used to maintain or quickly recover concentration • Reduces arousal, stops negative or task-irrelevant focus, shifts focus to process cue • Inhale deeply from abdomen, consciously relax neck and shoulder muscles • Exhale slowly and shift focus to center of gravity – goal is to deepen and spread the relaxation and centered effect • End of exhalation -- shift focus to relevant process cue and “perform” Note: With practice, can skip focusing on center of gravity because breath triggers a centered feeling

17. External Factors: Strategies to Keep Concentration • Athletes need to be trained not to react to irrelevant external stimuli • i.e., stimuli that have nothing to do with task • Novelty of the competitive environment, compared to the practice environment, tends to reduce performance • Therefore, training should simulate competition and all the external stimuli that can occur

18. External Factor Strategies • Dress rehearsal • Simulated competition experiences • Mental rehearsal

19. External Factor Strategies • Strategy 1: Dress Rehearsal • Practice the complete competitive routine in the same uniform one would wear during competition • Conduct frequently after athletes have mastered a new skill and are practicing for the whole routine

20. External Factor Strategies (cont.) • Strategy 2: Simulated Competition Experiences • Make practices as much like competition as possible • Enables athletes to become so familiar with the stimuli associated with competition that they are no longer distracting • Over train athletes in worst case scenarios (e.g.) • Piping in distracting noise into the stadium • Wet ball drills • Flight simulators

21. External Factors Strategies (cont.) • Strategy 3: Mental Rehearsal • Rehearse competition concentration -- teaches athletes not to react to external distractions • Variation: athlete mentally rehearses a sport scenario as another tries to distract (have rate his/her achieved concentration) • Variation: Unestahl Basic Mental Training program – screen out distractions by building a wall around you or by accepting the distraction but not judging it

22. Internal Factors Strategies • Attentional cues and triggers • Centering • TIC-TOC • Turning failure into success • Use of Biofeedback • Increasing focusing and refocusing skills • Developing performing protocols

23. Internal Factors:Strategies to Keep Concentration • Strategy 1: Attentional Cues and Triggers • Athletes can use verbal and kinesthetic cues to focus their concentration and to refocus once it has been lost • Cues must focus on positives rather than negatives, the present rather than the past or future, and the process rather than the score or outcome • Must be individualized

24. Internal Factors Strategies (cont.) • Strategy 2: Centering • Used to maintain or quickly recover concentration Reduces arousal, stops negative or task-irrelevant focus, shifts focus to process cue • Inhale deeply from abdomen, consciously relax neck and shoulder muscles • Exhale slowly and shift focus to center of gravity -- goal is to deepen and spread the relaxation and centered effect • End of exhalation -- shift focus to relevant process cue and “perform” • Note: With practice, can skip focusing on center of • gravity because breath triggers a centered feeling

25. Internal Factors Strategies (con’t) • Strategy 3: TIC-TOC • Use the words TIC-TOC to trigger a response • TIC = any self-statements or thoughts that are irrelevant to the immediate task • TOC = switching to a task relevant focus • Strategy entails becoming aware to TICs and immediately making them TOCs

26. Internal Factors Strategies (con’t) • Strategy 4: Turning Failure into Success • Mentally rehearse successful performance after a failure/error • Dwelling on the failure is even more harmful than making a performance error • Use positive self-talk to refocus attention and address why mistake occurred

27. Internal Factors Strategies (con’t) • Strategy 5: Use of Brain Biofeedback • Efficient use of the brain (less brain activity) occurs during elite performance • 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

28. Internal Factors Strategies (con’t) • Strategy 6: Focusing/Refocusing Skills • Teaches performers to gently hold attention on a predetermined task and, if attention wanders, to bring attention back • Exercise A: Mindfulness • Exercise B: One pointing • Exercise C: Grid exercise • Exercise D: Video games

29. Internal Factors Strategies (con’t) • Strategy 7: Pre-performance and Performance Protocols • Develop pre-set behavioral protocols for use during warm-ups, practice, and specific times during competition (do consistently) • Protocols serve to automatically trigger the needed arousal, thinking, and focused concentration • If attention lapses, can use protocol to refocus

30. What Do Athletes Say “The new routine has made me more focused for each shot and therefore less distracted by irrelevancies.” (professional golfer)

31. Summary of Mental Preparation Steps to Better Concentration • Learn personal strategies for attaining optimal performance arousal • Learn to practice with a positive attitude and specified intention • Learn which attentional focus is best for you in given situations, how to switch focus, and when to “park” thoughts • Learn and practice the attentional strategies that you will need • Associate concentration with triggers, change TICS to TOCS, practice centering if arousal problems • Practice the external control strategies • Develop and practice pre-performance and performance protocols