How athletes can improve their selective attention in sports |15 July 2015

Selective attention is the ability to gate out, or ignore irrelevant sensory information, and pay attention to relevant information. For example in basketball, an athlete must concentrate on the basket while shooting a free throw rather than being distracted by noise from the crowd.

What to do?

Step 1
Stay in the present, briefly note the mistake and move on and curb a tendency to worry about possible mistakes to come. Relax a moment between points, as do tennis stars like Roger Federer.

Step 2
Recite relevant mantras to your sport, just watch the ball and close down the thought of the attacker.

Step 3
Pay selective attention to relevant cues so that you can anticipate your opponents’ moves. In racket sports, look for your opponents’ shoulder and trunk movement and racket position. In basketball watch the passers, in football watch the mid-section of the dribbler.

Step 4
Block out destructions including cheering, trash talk, wave signs in the crowd and yelled commentary. Ask your coach to set up simulation of distraction at practice so you can become used to them, for example, run the offence with a tape of crowd noise or the opponents’ fight song.

Step 5
Orient yourself to the task rather than the outcome, ignore the score, especially if it is not in your favour and focus on your play.

Step 6
Redouble your efforts at keeping focus when you are tired even if it requires looking at your opponents for signs of fatigue that you can exploit.

Step 7
Keep to yourself and avoid talking to your opponents or spectators during change-over. This is your time to replenish, sip water and focus for the next half or game.

Step 8
Attention and arousal are closely related. Avoid becoming overly aroused while focusing on executing shot / serve and implementing your strategy. Breathing and relaxation exercise can help lower arousal.

Tips to cope with external distraction
Coping with distraction is a part of sports; athletes must learn to stay focus during competition.

Tip 1
Basketball players using pre-shot routine to help them stay tuned into the right performance cues. For basketball players a free throw routine is to shield the mind from spectators’ pressure while taking the shot. Total absorption in the steps of the routine help athletes to occupy their mind and deflect distractions that may come into mind, such as crowd noise. Your mission is to focus on your performance cues with the routine, which also serves to keep focus in the process and not worry about missing the shot.

Your mind should be clear and ready to focus on the target. Set up your line as you always do in your foul shot routine. Bounce, twirl, or hold the ball in a way that feels good to you (or do what you usually do here). Feel the weight of the ball and centre yourself on the line.

Tip 2
Next create a good mental picture of the ball’s trajectory and visualise it go in, or just sense the ball going in the basket. The key here is creating a positive picture or feeling in your mind to boost confidence. See it, feel it, or think about it, and know it is going in. If you get a bad picture or thought here, stop immediately and restart your routine from beginning.

Tip 3
One more tip: If there’s a potential for external distraction in your sport, prepare yourself mentally for what’s to come. Practice in conditions (or distractions) that match what you will face in competition. I know it is hard to simulate the pressure of the Indian Ocean Island Games, but prepare for distractions present in competition that you would not usually experience in practice.

Conclusion
Distractions can be major challenges with execution success. The most important factor is to know the difference between internal, external distractions and what to do to eliminate them from derailing your success. You can take a proactive step on your own to boost your focus and concentration.