Concentration Flashcards
Concentration
Concentration- the act of putting one’s attention towards one specific purpose
Considered an organizational psychological skill since it regulates all others to some extent. An athlete with continuous concentration may occasionally wear down a physically stronger opponent
What is attention?
Describe withdrawal from certain things to deal efficiently with others
What is focus?
A spot at which one’s attention is concentrated
When does concentration in sports happen?
When one’s mind and senses are entirely focused on an object, player action, or set of circumstances to the execution of all else
What are the 4 parts of sports concentration
Focusing on Relevant Environmental Cues
Maintain Attentional Focus
Maintaining Situation Awareness
Shifting Attentional Focus
What is Focusing on Relevant Environmental Cues?
Known as selective attention, irrelevant cues are either ignored and eliminated
What is Maintain Attentional Focus?
Concentration also includes maintaining attentional focus throughout the competition. This is challenging because thought sampling studies have indicated that the median length of time throught center remains on target is roughly 5 seconds
What is Maintaining Situation Awareness?
The capacity of an athlete to grasp what is going on around him is the most intriguing and significant aspect of attentional focus on sport. This skill helps players assess game situations, opponents, and contests to make suitable judgments based on circumstances, often under extreme pressure and time constraints.
What is
Shifting Attentional Focus?
During an event, it is frequently essential to adjust attentional focus. This attentional flexibility is defined as the capacity to change the scope and focus of attention required by the circumstances.
What are the 3 processes of attentional focus?
Attentional Selectivity
Attentional Capacity
Attentional Alertness
What is attentional selectivity?
Attention is restricted because it can only handle so much at once. On the other hand, athletes who appear to be able to pay attention to a variety of things when performing. This is because of their ability to transform from controlled to automated processing as they gain experience.
What are common mistakes regarding attentional selectivity?
Failure to focus all of one’s attention the task essential or significant parts
Irrelevant information distracting you from relevant information
Inability to split attention among all relevant cues on all relevant cues that must be evaluated simultaneously. It is too broad and you can’t adjust from one place to the other
What is attentional alertness?
Connected to the idea that increases in emotional arousal reduces attentional field due to systematic reduction invite range cues the performer considers when performing a skill like visual cues
What are the 2 dimensions of attentional focus?
Width (Wide or Narrow)
Direction (External or Internal)
What is width of attentional focus?
A person with a broad attentional focus can observe many events simultaneously which is critical in sports as players must be aware and responsive to a constantly changing environment
When you respond to only 2 cues such as when a golfer lines up to putt, you have narrow attention.
What is direction of attentional focus?
External- directs attention outward to an item, such as a baseball or hockey puck or an opponent’s actions such as tennis doubles
Internal- Internal of thoughts and feelings. When a coach analyzes players without physically acting, a high jump starts the run-up for example
What are internal distractors?
Thoughts, worries, or concerns
Attending to past events
Attending to future events
Choking under pressure
Inadequate motivation
What are external distractors?
Visual distractors- Spectators can be visual distractions and can lead to pushing too hard
Auditory distractors- Crowd noise and aircraft flying over
What is the role of self-talk in concentration?
Self-talk acts as a mediator between an event and a response. Self-talk plays a role in reactions to circumstances and these reactions influence behavior in the future and feelings
EX: Setback in rehabbing a knee injury
I’ll never get back to the starting lineup-anger, frustration, hopeless
This type of injury just takes time to heal, so I need to continue to work hard-optimism, motivation and effort.
Types of Self-Talk for Enhancing Concentration
Positive (Motivational)
Instructional
Negative self-talk
What is positive self-talk?
Focuses on boosting energy, effort, and a positive attitude, but it lacks precise task-related cues (I can do it.)
What is instructional self-talk?
Assists in individual focusing on technical or task-related components of the performance to enhance execution (Keep eyes on the ball)
What is negative self-talk?
Critical and self-demanding it hampers a person’s ability to achieve his or her goals and it is unproductive and anxiety-inducing.
Ex: Terrible shot- does not improve performance or promote pleasant sentiments
What are some techniques to improve self-talk?
Thought stopping
Changing negative to positive self-talk
Concentration Enhancement
Use cue words
Non-judgmental thinking
Establish routines
Overlearn skills
Develop competition skills
Process of thought stopping
Thought stopping is concentrating briefly on unwanted thoughts and then employing a cue or trigger to stop the thinking and clean the mind
When a negative thought arises simply say stop loudly and focus on the task related cue. Once you’ve accomplished this, try quietly whispering stop
Process of non-judgemental thinking
Challenge in maintaining concentration is analyzing performance and categorizing it as excellent or terrible
The act of this triggering personal, ego driven, emotions detracts performance
Ex Football miss easy goals, frustration and discouragement
Process of cue words
Evoke a specific response and basically, self-talk can be instructive (Shoulders back), motivational (Strong), and emotional (Hang in there)
Process of Changing negative to positive self-talk
When negative thoughts arise, one strategy is to alter attentional focus to give encouragement and inspiration
Note all the sorts of self-talk that are harmful to your performance or cause unwanted behaviors. Goal ids to find which events cause these negative thoughts and why
Process of overlearning skills
Aids in concentration in a competitive environment to perform at a high level and aids in autonomic performance of a skill.
Ex dribbling so you can focus on plays
Process of concentration enhancement
Use simulation in practice
Environmental characteristics such as loud and hostile audience official’s presence and the opponents’ behavior distinguish the competitive atmosphere from the practice setting
Process of establishing routine
Focuses attention and beneficial in mental prep for an upcoming competition
During breaks from the action, the mind begins to wander and is a good time for routine
Ex tennis player sits down, takes a breath, and imagines what to do in the next game. Then, before going back out, she uses 2-3 cue words to grab attention
Process of developing competition plans
Assist athletes in what they would do in certain situations
Employ a what-if strategy to build strategy for several scenarios that may be unlikely but likely possible
