A2 Psychology of Sport
Concentration
Booklet 4
Working as a team
Complete green group tasks
Working as an individual
Complete yellow individual tasks
Skills
Lesson objectives
By the end of the lesson you should be able to
• To understand the definition of concentration
• To understand selective attention and
perception
• To understand the attentional styles
• To understand how to apply practical
examples to theory
Buzz words
• Concentration
• Broad
• Narrow
• Internal
• External
• Two dimensions
• Nideffer
• Cue utilisation
CONCENTRATION
• Martens – mistakes occur in top level sport
due to attentional errors.
• Focusing attention onto the relevant
environmental cues and maintaining focus
until the skill has been completed.
CONCENTRATION
EXTERNAL
FACTORS
e.g. Stimulus
Intensity
CONCENTRATION
INTERNAL
FACTORS
e.g. Cognition
and emotional
Condition of
arousal
AROUSAL
“This can be considered as the level of
excitement or activation generated in the
central nervous system.”
LOW AROUSAL
HIGH AROUSAL
LETHARGIC, SLEEP
LIKE STATE.
ALERT STATES
AND FRENETIC
BEHAVIOUR
POOR PERFORMANCE
Poor performance is due to either under
arousal or over arousal.
PERCEPTUAL FIELD
Your perceptual field is your attentional
focus.
LOW AROUSAL
INCREASE
IN PERCEPTUAL
FIELD
SELECTIVE
ATTENTION IS
NOT IN
OPERATION.
INFORMATION OVERLOAD,
WHICH IMPEDES
DECISION MAKING.
INCREASE IN
AROUSAL
PERCEPTUAL FIELD ADJUSTS TO
THE IDEAL WIDTH.
SELECTIVE ATTENTION IS FULLY
OPERATIONAL.
ABILITY TO CONCENTRATE IS
MAXIMISED.
NOTE! The theory, which predicts the selection of the
most relevant environmental data at the optimal arousal
level, is termed “cue utilisation hypothesis”.
BEYOND THE OPTIMAL THRESHOLD
PERCEPTUAL FOCUS
NARROWS
RELEVANT CUE MAY
BE MISSED.
E.G. ATHLETE COULD
BE HIGHLY AGITATED
& PANIC.
KNOWN AS
HYPERVIGILANCE OR
PANIC
The Inverted ‘U’ Hypothesis
OPTIMAL OR
THRESHOLD OF
AROUSAL
ATTENTIONAL STYLES
• It is important to look at the width of
attention.
• This needs to change in response to
varying situations in sport.
• Width of attention relates to the number of
environmental cues that require the
performer’s attention.
ATTENTIONAL STYLES
•
Four attentional styles can be identified
from this:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Broad/external.
External/narrow.
Narrow/internal.
Internal/broad.
CONCENTRATION AND ATTENTIONAL STYLES
NIDEFFER’S ATTENTIONAL STYLES
BROAD
• a player concentrates on the whole
game
– all players’ positions and
movements
– open skills
NARROW
• the player concentrates on one aspect
of the game
– the goalkeeper
– closed skills
INTERNAL
• the player decides to concentrate on his
own technique
EXTERNAL
• the player focuses on the position of
his opposite number
Therefore, in an activity where the
environment changes (e.g. in an
interactive game that has open and closed
skills) it may be necessary to use all 4
styles when appropriate.
All performers have a preferred or strongest
attentional style.
An expert performer needs to be competent
in all 4 styles.
CONCENTRATION
CONCENTRATION
• a state of mind in which attention is
directed towards a specific aim or
activity
• attentional focus
• control of attention towards a task
CUE UTILISATION
• cues can be used by the sportsperson
– to direct attention
– to trigger appropriate arousal
responses
– to enable attentional focus at a
relevant moment
• sometimes, narrowing of attentional
focus by an aroused player
– will cause lack of awareness of
broader play issues
USE OF COGNITIVE TECHNIQUES TO
ASSIST CONCENTRATION
• imagery
• mental rehearsal
• relaxation
• can be used to direct the
sportsperson’s mind towards a
specific task
• these techniques can be thought to
manage the stress of the situation
• to manage anxiety in a productive
way