Champion athletes, such as basketballer Michael Jordan, are famous for their ability to focus under pressure. Most athletes can focus on executing their skills in training. However, it is only the best, like Jordan, that have developed their ability to focus under pressure. Jordan has renowned for his ability to concentrate under big game pressure. He was able to shoot with the same accuracy regardless of the game situation. The question is, “what is this key skill and how can it be developed?”
In the sport psychology world, the term is called Attentional Focus or Concentration. The ability to concentrate on a specific skill without distraction is the Holy Grail for athletes. However, we need to break the skill down to understand its parts. While the research is convoluted, a useful way to describe it is as follows.
Internal and external: Controlling your thoughts is an example of an internal focus. When a cricket is thinking about what type of ball to bowl next, this is an example of an internal focus. When an athlete is looking at the whole soccer field, scanning for the next play, that is external focus.
Broad and narrow. When a batter is watching the bowlers hand to predict the next ball, that is a narrow (external) focus. When a cyclist is scanning the intersection for cars and pedestrians that is a broad (external) focus.
The secret
The secret to this skill is to be able to switch from one area to another seamlessly. The cyclist scanning the intersection might need to narrow her focus in an instant as she sees the stray dog coming across her path. Changing your thoughts from analyzing how your body is feeling (broad internal) to focusing on relaxing your breathing (narrow internal) is another example of switching focus.
Tips from the top
Top athletes achieve this by focusing on the task at hand. They focus on the task they need to do now. They are not distracted by thinking about the outcome, such as winning or losing, but move their concentration to the specific skills. When Jordan has the ball with only seconds to go in the game he doesn’t let his mind drift to the shot-clock or the crowd but he switches his focusing to the correct shooting technique.
Skills for life
The great thing about sporting skills is that they can often have a direct transition into other areas of life. For example, I knew an elite age-group triathlete that despite huge work stresses and constant family pressures was always able to block out those events and focus on his training and races. Or a solider attempting the SAS’s selection process who was able to ignore the internal doubt and pain to focus on the specific task.
Remember, it is a skill and needs practice. It requires an understanding of its parts and an awareness of what you should be doing right now. Regardless of your athletic ability try some of these tips to help your day-to-day focus.
Jeremy Dover is a former sports scientist and Pastor
Jeremy Dover's previous articles may be viewed at https://www.pressserviceinternational.org/jeremy-dover1.html
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