attention

Attention and concentration:

Attention: Attention is the mental process where by athletes direct and maintains awareness of stimuli detected by their senses.
Dimensions of the attention (Types of attention):
Neideffer identified four types of antinational focus.

Broad


Internal external


Narrow

Broad external attentional focus: used to rapidly assess a situation .
E g: a soccer player rapidly assess the position of the defensive team.
Broad internal attentional focus.
Used to analyze and plan.
E.g. developing game plan.
Narrow external attentional focus:
Used to focus exclusively on one or two external cues externally.
E.g. the ball or position of opponent.
Narrow internal attentional focus:
Used to mentally rehearse an upcoming performance or control an emotional state.
E.g. mentally rehearse tennis swing or taking a breath to relax.


Guidelines for improving attention:
1. The attentional demands for each specific
Skill in your sport should be analyzed by you and
Athletes.
2. When attention is focused externally teach athletes what cues should be attended.
3. When attention is focused internally attend to positive thoughts.
4. Attend to the present and immediate forthcoming action.
Concentration:
Focusing on the relevant cues in the environment, maintaining that attentional focus overtime, having awareness of the changing situations, and shifting attentional focus when necessary. (Weinberg, 1999)
1. Focusing on the relevant cues:
Selecting relevant cues and focusing and disregarding or eliminating irrelevant cues.
2. Maintaining that focus overtime:
Maintaining attentional focus for the duration of the competition or practice.
3.Having aware of the changing situations
An athlete’s Ability to understand what is going on around him or her is known as situational awareness.
This ability allows players to size up the game situations, opponents, and competition.
4.Shifting the attentional
Often it is necessary to shift attentional focus during an event demanded by the situation.

Concentration and sport performance
Athletes and coaches certainly recognize the importance of proper attentional focus in achieving high levels of performance.
Successful athletes maintain a more task oriented focus and are less likely to become distracted by irrelevant stimuli.
Peak performers have developed exceptional concentration. They get absorbed in present and having
Attentional problems
1.internal distracters
Our thoughts, worries, and concerns are the internal distracters.
These worries and irrelevant thoughts can cause performers to lose concentration and develop an inappropriate focus of attention.
Attending to past events
Focusing on the past events has been the downfall of many talented athletes, as looking backward prevents them from focusing on the present.
Attending to events
Athletes engage in a form of worrying or thinking about the outcome of the event rather than what they need to do now to be successful also prevents them from focusing on game.
Choking under pressure
Emotional factors such as the pressure of competition often play a critical role in creating internal sources of distraction.
Conditions leading to choking:
• important competition
• critical plays in a competition.
• evaluation by coaches, peers, and parents
Physical changes due to pressure of competition.
• increased muscle tension
• increased breathing rate
• racing heart rate.
Attentional problems due to pressure of competition
• internal focus
• narrow focus
• reduced flexibility
Performance impairment due to pressure of competition
• timings and coordination breaks down
• muscle tight ness and fatigue
• rushing
• Inability to attend to task relevant cues.
Overanalyzing body mechanics
The more analyze, the more likely you are to break the natural, smooth movement’s characteristics of high levels of performance.
Fatigue
When player gets tired, his loses concentration .this results in impaired decision making, lack of focus and intensity, and other mental breakdowns. This is why conditioning and fitness are so important.
Inadequate motivation.
If an individual is not motivated, it is difficult to maintain concentration, as the mind is likely to wanders.
External distracters.
1. Visual distracters
Spectators can cause a visual distraction and may affect some people’s concentration and subsequent performance by making them try too hard.
Score board and television cameras also causes attentional problems.
2. Auditory distracters:
Common distracters include crowd noise, airplanes flying overhead, mobile telephones, announcements on the public address system, beepers and other electronic paging devices. Loud conversations among spectators.
3. Gamesmanship
In many sports situations, competitors ploys in an effort to disrupt the concentration of their opponents; this is typically referred to as gamesmanship.
Tips for improving concentration on site
1. Use simulation in practice
Players will be physically and psychologically prepared for this pressure situation in the game. This type of practice is known as simulation training.
Practicing with distractions can help develop focus.
Cue words
Cue words are used to trigger a particular response and are really a form of self talk.
Simple and let them automatically trigger the desired response.
e .g: strong , move , relax
Employ non judgmental thinking:
Player, instead of judging the worth of a performance and categorizing it as either good or bad. payer should learn to look at your actions nonjudgmentally .
Establish routines:
Routines can focus concentration and can be extremely helpful to mental preparation for an upcoming performance.
e.g.: a tennis player during changeovers might sit in a chair, take a deep breath, and image what she wants to do in the next game.
Routines can be used before or during an event to focus attention, reduce anxiety, and enhance confidence.
Developing competition plan
Establishing precompetition and competition plans to help maintain their attentional focus .
These plans help athletes not only prepare for their events but also prepare for what they would do in different circumstances, both before and during competition.
Practice eye control
Eye control is still another method to focus concentration. Fixing eyes only on the task is the key to control our eyes not to wander to irrelevant cues.