Chapter 4 Staying focused in sport: Concentration in sport performers

SUMMARY

Nature and importance of concentration in sport psychology

 In cognitive sport psychology, concentration is regarded as one component of

the multidimensional construct of “attention”.
 For cognitive psychologists, this latter construct refers to “a concentration of
mental activity” or the “concentration of mental effort on sensory or
mental events”

Dimensions of attention

 Concentration- refers to a person’s ability to exert deliberate mental effort on

what is most important in any given situation.
 Ability to Zoom in- a skill in selective perception—namely, the ability to “zoom
in” on task-relevant information while ignoring potential distractions. this
dimension refers to the ability to discriminate relevant stimuli (targets) from
irrelevant stimuli (distractors) that compete for our attention.
 Mental Time-Sharing Ability- whereby athletes learn, as a result of extensive
practice, to perform two or more concurrent actions equally well.
 Vigilance- This dimension designates a person’s ability to orient attention and
respond to randomly occurring relevant stimuli over an extended period of time.

To summarise, this section of the chapter highlighted two important ideas. First,
concentration is just one aspect of the multidimensional construct of attention. In
particular, it refers to the ability to pay attention to the task at hand while ignoring
distractions from internal as well as external sources. In addition, despite their
plausibility, cognitive metaphors of attention have certain limitations which
hamper theories and research on concentration in athletes.

Importance of concentration in sport

 The importance of concentration in sport is indicated by at least three sources of
evidence: anecdotal, descriptive and experimental.
 Anecdotal- many top athletes attest to the value of focusing skills in sport. The
multiple Olympic gold-medallist, attributed much of his athletic success to an
extraordinary skill in selective attention which enabled him to block out potential
distractions on the track.
 Descriptive- in the form of athlete surveys indicate the importance of
concentration to sport performance.
 Experimental- .The third source of evidence on the importance of concentration
in sport comes from experimental research on the consequences of manipulating
athletes’ attentional focus in competitive situations, use of “associative” Focus
more on Bodily signal or process rather than mental skills,while
"Dissociative"focus on mental skills rather than bodily processes.
To summarise, the preceding strands of evidence converge on the conclusion that
concentration is vital for success in sport. This conclusion has been echoed by
researchers such as Abernethy (2001) who observed that it is difficult to imagine any
skill that could be more important to athletic performance than “paying attention to the
task at hand”.

Measurement of attentional processes in athletes

Attentional processes in athletes can be indirectly assessed using psychometric, experimental, and
neuroscientific paradigms in psychology.

Three main paradigm

Psychometric approach- Sport psychologists use the "Test of Attentional and Interpersonal Style"
(TAIS) to measure individual differences in attentional processes in athletes. The TAIS contains 144 items,
broken down into 17 sub-scales, to measure people's attentional processes in everyday situations. Based
on Nideffer's model of attention, attentional focus varies along two dimensions: "width" and
"direction." These dimensions can be combined to yield four hypothetical attentional styles, such as
narrow external focus in sports and narrow internal focus in mental rehearsals. The original TAIS was not
intended for athletic populations.

 Neuroscientific approach- The second measurement paradigm focuses on understanding the

psychophysiological correlates and neural substrates of attentional processes in athletes. Three main
waves of measurement development include monitoring indices of attention like heart rate,brain
raterate, and time lock ,which has been found to slow down in elite rifle-shooters before aiming. A
recent study found that dart-throwers' heart rates may vary based on their attentional focus, but the
psychophysiological significance of this heart rate change remains unknown.

 Experimental approach- The third approach to the measurement of attentional processes in

athletes comes from capacity theory in experimental psychology (see review by Abernethy, 2001).
Briefly, capacity theory (Kahneman, 1973) suggests that attention may be defined operationally in terms
of the interference between two tasks (a primary task and a secondary task).

Principles of effective concentration

1. CONCENTRATION REQUIRES MENTAL EFFORT - focused state of mind requires
deliberate mental effort and intentionality on the part of the athlete concerned.
2. ONE CAN FOCUS ON ONLY ONE THOUGHT AT A TIME - focus consciously on
only one thought at a time. Indeed, this “one thought” principle may be hard-wired into
our brains because research shows that the working memory system which regulates
conscious awareness .
3. ATHLETES ARE "FOCUSED" WHEN THEY CONCENTRATE ON ACTION THAT
ARE SPECIFIC, RELEVANT AND UNDER THEIR OWN CONTROL -Sport performers
tend to concentrate most effectively when they direct their mental spotlight at actions
that are specific, relevant and, above all, under their own control.
4. ATHLETES "LOSE" CONCENTRATION WHEN THEY FOCUSED ON
IRRELEVANT OR "OUT OF CONTROL" FACTORS -research shows that athletes tend
to lose their concentration when they pay attention to events and experiences that are in
the future, out of their control, or otherwise irrelevant to the task at hand (Moran, 1996).
5. ANXIETY DISRUPTS CONCENTRATION BY INDUCING NEGATIVE SELF
EVALUATION AND "HYPERVIGILANCE". -acknowledges the potentially disruptive
influence of emotions such as anxiety. In particular, anxiety impairs concentration
systems in several distinctive ways.
In summary, As you will see, three of them concern the establishment of an optimal
focus whereas the other two describe how it may be disrupted or lost. at least five
principles govern either the maintenance or loss of an optimal focus for athletes.

WHY DO ATHLETES LOSE THEIR CONCENTRATION?

 When people focus on factors that are either irrelevant to the job at hand or
beyond their control, they lose concentration and their performance deteriorates.
However, psychologists believe that concentration is never really “lost”— but
merely re-directed at some target that is irrelevant to the task at hand. In general,
psychologists distinguish between external and internal sources of distractions.
Internal distractions include a vast array of thoughts, feelings and/or bodily
sensations (e.g., pain, fatigue) which impede our efforts to concentrate on the job
at hand.
Typical external distractions include such factors as sudden changes in ambient
noise levels (e.g., the click of a camera), and unpredictable playing surface or
weather (e.g., a golfer may become distracted by windy conditions). Often, these
distractions lead to impaired performance at the worst possible moment for the
athlete concerned. Typical distractions in this category include wondering what
might happen in the future, regretting what has happened in the past, worrying
about what other people might say or do and/or feeling tired, bored or otherwise
emotionally upset.

CONCENTRATION TRAINING EXERCISE AND TECHNIQUES

 APPLIED SPORT PSYCHOLOGY Is replete with strategies which claim to

improve concentration skills in athletes. In general,the purpose of these
strategies is to help an athlete to achieve a fucosed state of mind in which there
is no difference between what s/he is thinking about and what s/he is doing.

2 TYPES OF PSYCHOLOGICAL ACTIVITIES

 CONCENTRATION TRAINING EXERCISE- The concentration training exercises

for athletes are designed to improve focus, attention, and mental resilience.
These exercises help athletes enhance their ability to concentrate during practice
and competition, leading to improved performance.
 CONCENTRATION TECHNIQUES- techniques that athletes can use to improve
concentration, including the Visualization,Mindfulness, Breath control,Cue
words,Goal setting. The aim of all of these techniques is to ensure that athletes
focus their attention on actions that they can control and are relevant to
successful performance.
 TYPES OF ATTENTIONAL SKILL

1. SPECIFYING PERFORMANCE GOAL- (Smart)

1. USING PRE-PERFORMACE ROUTINES- Most top-class athletes display

characteristic sequences of preparatory actions before they perform key skills.
Augmenting the preceding arguments is empirical evidence derived from case studies
which show that routines can improve athletes’ concentration skills and performance. At
least three types of routines are common in sport. First, pre-event routines are
preferred sequences of actions in the run up to competitive events. Included here are
stable preferences for what to do on the night before, and on the morning of, the
competition itself. Second, pre-performance routines are characteristic sequences of
thoughts and actions which athletes adhere to prior to skill-execution—as in the case of
tennis players bouncing the ball before serving. Finally, post-mistake routines are
action sequences which may help performers to leave their errors in the past so that
they can refocus on the task at hand.

2. “Trigger words” as cues to concentrate- In the context of improving athletes'

concentration, "trigger words" or self-talk are used to enhance focus and performance.
Serena Williams, during the 2002 Wimbledon final, used these trigger words as cues to
remind herself of specific instructions, such as "hit in front" or "stay low." Many athletes
engage in self-talk, which can be positive, negative, or neutral, to motivate themselves
or provide instructions.
Studies suggest that self-talk, especially with instructional cues, can improve
concentration and performance in sports. For instance, tennis players using trigger
words like "split" or "turn" attributed their improved performance to enhanced
concentration. Although there is no published research on the direct impact of self-talk
on athletes' concentration, it is possible that positive and instructional self-
In summary, trigger words and self-talk are cognitive self-regulatory strategies that
athletes use to boost their concentration, but the direct research on their effectiveness
in this regard is limited. The key to effective self-talk is to keep the phrases short, vivid,
and positively phrased, emphasizing what to aim for rather than what to avoid.

3. MENTAL PRACTICE- Mental practice is the systematic mental imagery to rehearse

physical actions, facilitating skill learning and performance. It is Also known to improve
the athletic performance, athletes can concentrate and also mental imagery is used so
that athletes can focus.