Attention and Concentration: How to Stay Focused

It's no secret that focus is important for great performances. Being able to maintain focus can make the difference in split second decision making and through difficult decisions. You’ll get to the ball quicker, move of your mark faster, read the green better more clearly or reach the best tactical decision sooner. Due to this, attention, concentration, and focus are important to develop. So how do we build it?

Firstly, I want to define our terms:

Attention: the process of selectively focusing on specific things (e.g., the ball, person, mark, etc.) whilst ignoring other stimuli (e.g., the crowd, negative comments from opponents, etc.).

Concentration: the ability to maintain attention over a period of time. It’s about making sure you’re not letting your mind wander off during a game or training scenario.

What happens if you have good attention and concentration?

Better performances: higher attention and concentration often lead to better and quicker decisions, you’re about to react to unexpected scenarios better and execute skills with better accuracy/quality.

Less anxiety: you’re less likely to have your brain filled with worries about the game and the consequences of what you do. Your focus on the task in hand reduces the capacity for anxious thoughts to come to mind.

You learn more: You’ll learn more from training and get better faster. The more concentrated efforts you have on learning tactics and bettering yourself means your pour more time into your craft. This ultimately means you get more out, therefore you’re more likely to perform better.

Distractions

Distractions can be a nightmare, whether it’s an angry crowd or your own worries, they can disrupt attention and concentration and worsen performance. Firstly, distractions are normal, and no-one is immune to them. It is important to know that they are a challenge that you will face forever in your journey to greatness, but they can be easily managed with the right tools.

Types of Distraction

External: distractions that come from the environment, e.g., loud crowd or poor weather.

Internal: distractions that come from within, e.g., self-doubt, negative thoughts or worries about personal issues.

Social: distractions from people, e.g., teammates, coaches, or opponents.

How to Maintain Attention and Concentration?

Meditation/mindfulness techniques: practicing grounding techniques to keep you in the present and reduce being distracted can help develop your attention and concentration. You can also use visualisation and breathing techniques to help you achieve this.

Pre-competition routine: a pre-game routine can help you focus; it is like a queue to your mind that it is time to up our attention and concentration on the game in hand.

Goal setting: clear and achievable goals for each competition or training session help channel your focus. Make sure goals are SMART to best maximise attention and concentration.

Task-switching: practice focusing on different things, e.g., the ball, then the position. It will help you keep attention on the things that matter as you’re less likely to be caught by distractions in the process.

Practice in game scenarios: copy conditions that you may experience in game, e.g., practice putting in bad weather. These practices help build resilience against bad circumstances and you’re more likely to perform better.

Attention and concentration are important for successful performances. While distractions are inevitable, you can learn to manage them effectively through mental training techniques. By developing these skills and using strategies to maintain focus, you can improve your performances, reduce anxiety, and ultimately achieve your goals. How are you going to develop your focus first?

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