Chapter 7 Concentration: Focus Under Pressure By Clark Perry

Overview From the mass of information our senses are bombarded with, how do we filter out what is vital to success from what is useless? Understanding attention Attention as alertness, a limited capacity, and selectivity. Enhancing attention for competition

Cues At any given time, an athlete can focus on some of a very large number of stimuli. Cues are the stimuli that guide attention, thought, and action. They can be relevant (helpful to performance), irrelevant (unhelpful to performance), or noxious (harmful to performance).

The Attentional System

In the Zone Aidan Moran called the attentional system the bridge between perception, cognition, and action. Attention is a skill that can be developed through appropriate practice and instruction. Athletes call the state they are in when they are totally focused the zone. Mastering the skill of being able to focus on relevant cues under pressure is a characteristic of elite athletes.

Key Components of Attentional Systems Selectivity: focused concentration Time-sharing: coordination of skilled behavior Regulation of alertness: arousal control

Three Uses of the Term Attention Alertness Capacity Selectivity (Posner & Boies, 1971; Abernethy, 2001.)

Attention As Alertness Alertness depends on the athlete’s emotional state. Anxiety, arousal, and visual attention are related (Janelle, 2002). As anxiety increases, it can lead to Attentional narrowing Controlled processing Inefficiencies in attentional allocation Distraction by irrelevant or threatening cues

Attentional Narrowing Width or breadth of attention is narrowed. Important cues are missed. Mistakes are made; attention may be directed to errors. A vicious cycle occurs.

Controlled Processing Choking under pressure (Lewis & Linder, 1997). Once a task becomes automated, it no longer requires conscious attention. But as pressure increases, attention can shift from relevant cues to focus on control of performance. We say “choking” occurs.

Inefficiency of Attentional Allocation High-level performers are exceptionally efficient at allocating attention. As anxiety increases, response times to relevant cues increase. (continued)

Inefficiency of Attentional Allocation (cont) It may be possible to train athletes to enhance visual control to create more appropriate responses to attentional cues (e.g., “quiet eye”) (Vickers, n.d.).

Distraction Anxiety can lead athletes to perceive cues as threatening and to focus on irrelevant cues. Optimal level of arousal will help prevent distraction.

Attention As a Limited Capacity Abernethy argues that an athlete’s processing capacity is fixed, but the athlete may choose to apportion it to different tasks. Difficult tasks processed together have cumulative processing requirements. When requirements exceed capacity, processing is incomplete or delayed.

Attention As Selectivity Abernethy’s searchlight metaphor for attention involves three common errors: Beam is too broad. Attention is not focused on essential elements for success of task. Beam points in wrong direction. Attention is distracted by irrelevant information (example of golf). Beam is too narrow or moves too slowly. Attention is not divided effectively among all necessary stimuli.

Distractions External distractions: Internal distractions: Noise Gamesmanship Weather Playing conditions Visual distractions Open sports Closed sports Internal distractions: Thoughts Fears

Enhancing Attention for Competition Research by Gabrielle Wulf and colleagues. Performance was increased on tasks by focusing attention on the effects of the action. Should athlete think about own movements or the movement of the racket head, club, or other equipment? Focusing on immediate effects is more advantageous than focusing on resultant effects (flight of ball or where ball lands).

Flow and Attention Csikszentmihalyi argues that we don’t help people get into flow by trying to create it. Flow happens as a result of creating an environment that matches the skills of the athlete with the challenges of the task. For focused concentration, athletes need skills, perceptual awareness, self-confidence, and emotional control.