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slightly non-standardized survey was conducted recently in
a quasi-experimental setting located near the University.
Well okay - you could say that a bunch of ultimate players
were sitting around a local hangout eating marginal food,
drinking cheap beer and espousing their opinions about the
game. Regardless of these design details, a sample of veteran
ultimate players was queried about the value of attention
and focus when engaged in a fiercely competitive game. One
hundred percent of those surveyed agreed that concentration
is really critical for any athletic success. Differences were
noted however in their responses about specific distractions.
“Weather is big,” says Jon. He pauses as a cool
rift of trade winds blows softly through his hair. “The
elements either work for you or against you.” He closes
his eyes and smiles. His head drops back as if he’s caught
the scent of a long, sweet game. “See, tonight I could
play for hours; but, when those hot Kona winds blow, forget
it. I’m useless.”
“Cute boys can distract me. Anytime,” Laura offers.
She laughs and lets rip a loud belch. “I guess a distraction
is anything that you get preoccupied about. You know, like
what happened in the last game.”
“You know what I’ve noticed?” Justine asks,
not really looking for anyone to actually answer her. “Attitude
and bad spirit will get you. It can get under your skin and
then you’re screwed.”
“You know what you see all the time?” Danny asks,
cocking up his eyebrow. “Somebody makes one stupid mistake
and then that leads to another and another. If you don’t
shake that shit off, it just takes you down.”
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“Yeah, you definitely need to keep your head in the
game,” agrees Gilda. “But I’m my worst enemy.
If I’m in a bad mood or I’m tired or hungry - I
get distracted by things like that.”
Andre sits coolly at the end of the table, listening, sipping
his beer. When there is finally a lull in the conversation
he speaks up. “The trick,” he says, “is to
go out there and say to yourself, ‘you know, there’s
no one out here better than me. I can run down everything.
I can put the disc anywhere.’ Confidence gives you focus.”
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The elements of this survey are, perhaps
surprisingly, consistent with previous investigations that
have explored focus and concentration in elite professional
athletes. Performance is fundamentally reduced by distraction
and enhanced by concentration. The capacity to concentrate
effectively is widely regarded as the key to successful performance
in competitive athletic events.
So, what is concentration? Put simply,
concentration means paying attention. Loss of concentration,
however, is not a single variable. Loss of concentration may
occur due to a variety of internal and external distractions.
For example, the experience of low blood sugar and job stress
may actually feel quite similar but they are unique distractions
requiring different responses. Understanding these assorted
distractions will enable you to play better. In developing
the capacity to differentiate between distractions, one develops
increased awareness. Increased awareness, by definition, improves
focus. The first step to increased concentration is awareness.
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External Physical
Distractions
Many external physical distractions cannot be controlled.
The weather or the field terrain, for example, may either
naturally enhance your opportunities or create detrimental
factors in the game. While you often cannot control external
physical distractions, you can learn to take responsibility
for how you interpret these variables. Learning to think energetically
means learning to re-frame and thus reverse the events that
you might normally interpret as negative factors. This means
recognizing the value that a difficult situation offers. It
means learning to love hot days and crappy fields - not tolerate
them - but love them because they represent a challenge that
will make you stronger. As soon as you say to yourself, “Oh
God, it’s so hot. I don’t play well under these
conditions,” you have already conceded to perform poorly.
Learning to think positively and visualize success is an active,
training process. Emotion and concentration are intimately
intertwined. Negativity will beat you every time but you can
overcome very real barriers by training yourself to see them
as challenges that you know will make you a better player.
After all, do you get the same thrill when you match up against
someone who you know is a less experienced or less skilled
player? Of course not. It’s when you put yourself on
the line and excel at the challenge that the real victory
is realized.
Internal Physical
Distractions
This category includes hunger, fatigue, physical conditioning,
injuries, and I guess we can put lust here. These are extremely
important variables and they are often the easiest to control.
The main thing is that you have to learn to recognize what’s
going on and the effect it is having on your level of play.
Hunger for example can cause low blood sugar. Low blood sugar
can, in turn, trigger a range of negative mental states that
can lead to a negative spiral. Many athletes improperly fuel
themselves.
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To consistently elevate your level of play,
learn about peak nutritional conditions and strive to achieve
them. This includes a role for both carbohydrates and protein,
as well as learning to eat quality foods that are quickly
bioavailable. Hydration is important as well, to cool or warm
the body, to speed digestion and to allow for more efficient
transport of oxygen to the muscles. Even low levels of dehydration
can impact concentration, mood, and cause you to fatigue quickly.
Sleep is critical for muscle recovery and sleep deprivation
leads to poor overall performance. All of these physical events
can create real physical disruptions that interfere with mood
and cognitive processes. So, before you attribute poor performance
to your lack of ability (or your teammate’s inferior
skills), take stock of your physical conditioning. Follow
a consistent schedule of eating and drinking. Get 8-10 hours
of sleep per night. Always eat a healthy breakfast.
External Mental Distractions
This category refers to things like job and school stress,
your love life or lack thereof, and the manifestation of poor
spirit. In other words, external mental distractions are any
number of very real distractions that get into your head and
take your mind off of the game. Let’s face it - it’s
harder to play well when your job sucks, your team or the
team you are facing is messing with your head and the only
sex to look forward to at the end of the day is with yourself,
again. The solution for this kind of distraction is learning
to be in the moment. To achieve this state you must let go
of distracting thoughts and focus only on playing. The first
step is to notice that your attention is elsewhere. Then learn
to actively narrow your focus. One way to go about this is
to engage in a progressive narrowing of your attention. Start
by looking around. Take notice of the sound of things and
the colors and smells around you. This helps to unclutter
your mind. Now narrow this focus a little. Look only for things
that are white. Are there cars or lights or clothing that
are white? Now restrict this inquiry further so you only notice
things that are white on the field. Now, concentrate only
on the disc - and finally, just on the rim of the disc. Next,
notice your breathing and your muscles and consciously relax.
Slow your breathing, let go of each tight muscle group. Slow
down your movements. Talk slowly and deliberately. Once you
are centered, you can begin mental rehearsal.
Internal Mental
Distractions
Internal mental distractions are also things that get into
your head and take your mind off the game but they are completely
self-generated. These are those hideous, self-destructive
tendencies like negative self-statements, overly critical
judgements, anger, and impatience. Doubts, confidence, anxiety,
poise, courage and fear all have a significant impact on how
we perform. Research shows that confidence prior to a game
leads to successful competition. The muscles of the body involuntarily
and instantly respond to thoughts, feelings and emotions.
What you think, say and feel is critical to how you perform.
To gain greater control over your performance, you must learn
to use negative thoughts in a positive way. The first step
is to know what you are saying and to determine what the antecedent
conditions are that set these negative thoughts into motion.
Let’s say that committing an error in a game leads to
a series of negative thoughts or feelings. The idea is not
to avoid thinking about the error but to use it to trigger
a positive response. Telling yourself that the error was stupid
or cursing at yourself (or someone else) for your poor decision
will not help. What will help is to think about the precise
error and mentally rehearse what you would ideally like to
do. Actively see yourself engaging in this perfect and beautiful
response. This is how you create a new skill. Mental rehearsal
even creates new neural connections that can eventually become
first line responses.
To review, first identify those events that trigger internal
mental distractions. Next, create a positive remediation plan
and rehearse the desirable action. Finally, consistently resist
the temptation to engage in anger, negativity and impatience.
This latter activity can be achieved by simply saying ‘STOP’
to yourself when you start to indulge in self-destructive
thinking. Remember, this is an active training process and
it requires effort. You are teaching yourself to elicit a
productive pattern of thought as your first and dominant response
to a distracting situation.
Have fun. Play tough. Drop me a note if you have comments
or questions.
A hui hou.
— Dr. Leigh Jerome
Leigh is a psychologist, writer, and
avid player living in Hawaii.
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