Staying
Focused:
The Skill of Concentration
by Marie Dalloway, Ph.D.
Introduction
Every athlete has experienced a break in concentration
followed by a decline in performance and loss of self-confidence.
In the mid-1980's Tim Mayotte, who was ranked in the top
20, wrote a series of articles about his life on the tennis
circuit. He graphically described concentration loss that
he experienced in a match in the Metz Grand Prix. "I couldn't
keep the ball in the court. Mentally I showed little resolve.
When things got tough, my mind bobbed and weaved and all
I could do was produce awfully poor tennis.
"The hours that followed were as volatile
as any in my career. First rush: irrational paranoia.
I wanted to escape from myself. Get into a car and drive
somewhere at 100 mph.... "(Tennis, 1985)
Concentration loss and the aftermath are agonizing. On
the plus side, lapses in concentration can be eliminated.
Concentration is a mental skill. Like other skills, it
can be learned.
Players can learn to stay focused on what they are doing
while they are doing it. Concentration is being in the
present, not analyzing or focusing on what happened one
second ago or will happen one second from now. It sounds
easy, as though everyone should be able to do this without
much effort or training. But formidable obstacles stand
in the way of attentiveness. When the obstacles are overcome,
high levels of concentration are achieved. Athletes move
into an exciting level of game play.
Understanding Concentration
Concentration can be defined as the focus of attention
on a selected target or signal. Concentration or selective
focus of attention can vary in intensity. The more complete
the focus of attention, the greater the level of concentration.
Skills for concentration fall into two major categories:
First, focus of attention on targeted, relevant information,
and second, dissociation from non-targeted, irrelevant,
and potentially distracting, information.
As a coach you may have found that many athletes are excellent
at directing their attention when distractions are low.
They may falter when the distractions increase. Movement
in the stands, crowd noise, airplanes flying overhead,
announcements over the PA, and flashbulbs are examples
of external distractions that can break concentration,
meaning that the attention is grabbed by the distraction.
The outcome is a split in the athlete's attention.
Distractions may be either internal or external. Internal
distractions are thoughts, feelings, perceptions or any
internal information, which is other than the salient
features of the performance on which the player should
be focused. When internal distractions occur, the athlete
must focus on the signal and dissociate from the internal
noise. When external distractions occur, the player needs
to do the same -- focus on the signal and dissociate from
the noise, only in this case, the noise is external. These
tasks for concentration may sound difficult, if not impossible.
The elimination of all extraneous noise, externally and
internally, is the ideal. Maintaining that ideal is analogous
to playing the perfect game of tennis. Progressing toward
the ideal is the nature of the game.
A Test for Concentration Skill
An assessment of concentration skill of your athletes
in relation to external noise can be done with a brief
and interesting test called the Grid Concentration Exercise.
This test is used widely in Eastern Bloc countries, where
performance on this test is sometimes the basis for selection
of team members immediately before a competition.
The exercise is performed by checking off consecutive
numbers in a grid. The grid has 10 rows and 10 columns,
with each box in -the grid containing a number from 0
to 99. The greater the number of consecutive numbers marked
within a one-minute period, the greater the concentration
level of the subject. Harris and Harris report that athletes
with high concentration skill score in the high twenties
and even the low thirties. Typical scores are in the range
of half those numbers.
A number of testing variations can be performed with this
exercise. After the initial testing, a second round of
the exercise can be done with external distractions, such
as playing loud music. With the second test, participants
begin at number 33 to reduce the practice effect. Or,
a number at random can be selected as the beginning point.
or participants can be instructed to start with a particular
number and mark consecutive descending numbers or odd
or even numbers.
By establishing test variations with different levels
of distraction, players in a clinic or on a team arrive
at an assessment of their relative concentration skill
level.
Using this assessment tool is a first step. Mental skill
development just like physical skill development requires
commitment and consistent practice. Some athletes do achieve
deep levels of concentration without special training.
However, others can learn to concentrate with the depth
of peak performers. Coaches can assist athletes in becoming
less controlled by distractions. Concentration skill--
the ability to direct full attention to a task-can be
developed. An excellent method that coaches can use to
help athletes be less susceptible to distractions is simulated
match training.
Simulated Match Training
Significant differences separate practice or training
sessions and competitions and rightly so. You do not want
practices for your athletes fraught with as much tension
and anticipation as competitions. Nor do you want to see
competitions neutralized by having them as routine as
training sessions. A certain right rhythm marks the process
of training hard and cycling up to peak for a particular
competition. However, excellent reasons exist for simulated
match training.
Simulated match training is a staged, close
approximation to the conditions and atmosphere of a
competition. Beyond quality training, simulated match
training gives players tournament experience in an accelerated
fashion.
Athletes and coaches recognize the benefits of experiencing
numerous competitions. The seasoned competitor has seen
enough to remain undistracted by factors that occur in
competitive settings. The new competitor may have the
talent but lack the presence or equanimity to deal with
competition-induced novelty.
Simulated match training reduces the novelty of competitions
and exposes the athlete to a variety of factors that can
and do arise during competitions.
Staging and participating in simulated match training
are exciting for athletes. With tennis players, there
might be "reporters" seeking interviews and "fans" seeking
autographs before the matches. During the match, players
would have to contend with heckling from fans, sounds
of airplanes overhead, call reversals by the umpire, movement
of people in the stands, glaring sunlight.
In simulated match training, athletes quickly become competition
experienced. They receive direct experience with the distractions
that they can expect to confront in competitions.
Simulated match practices are like tournaments. They do
not take the spice out of competition, but they do reduce
the strain of competitions by training athletes to stay
concentrated in spite of external distractions.
Summary
Concentration creates the best mental stage for athletes
to perform at their physical best. To explore your players'
potential by using mental skills requires a long-term
commitment. To have players perform with a focused and
an unruffled mind requires consistent practice of concentration
and the other mental skills associated with optimal performance.
84 27 51 78 59 52 13 85 61 55
28 60 92 04 97 90 31 57 29 33
32 96 65 39 80 77 49 86 18 70
76 87 71 95 98 81 01 46 88 00
48 82 89 47 35 17 10 42 62 34
44 67 93 1 107 43 72 94 69 56
53 79 05 22 54 74 58 14 91 02
06 68 99 75 26 15 41 66 20 40
50 09 64 08 38 30 36 45 83 24
03 73 21 23 16 37 25 19 12 63
Grid Concentration
Exercise Directions: Beginning with 00, put a slash
through each number in the proper sequence. From the Athlete's
Guide to Sports Psychology (Leisure Press, 1984) by Dorothy
V. Harris and Bette L. Harrisl p. 189. Reprinted with
permission from Human Kinetics Publishers.
Reference for the Tim Mayotte quote.
Mayotte, Tim: Tim Mayotte's 1984 Pro Diary. Tennis. February
1994.Copyright © 2000 By Marie Dalloway
All Rights Reserved
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