Focus Plans

More on focus!

Athletes cannot just show up and hope that their focus will kick in and be effective when the competition day arrives.  Focus needs to be practiced.  So we need to devise a plan for how to work on our focus so that eventually focus becomes a natural part of our sporting routine.

Every athlete is very different and thus there is no set technique or plan that will work well for all; rather you need to become self-aware and discover what works well for you!

To get you started, ask yourself...

• When you have performed well in the past what were you thinking?

If there was a statement or word that you were thinking that aided your performance, then you want to replicate that on a regular basis.  Especially in situations where your focus is lacking due to lack of energy/sleep/fuel, poor weather, negative teammates, coaches and/or parents.

• What do you need to be feeling to perform well?

Identify the feeling so that you can identify when you are NOT feeling that way.  What I mean is, if you perform well when you are feeling calm and confident and you notice that you are feeling anxious and doubtful before a big game, then we need to put a plan in place that you can use in that moment to help you feel calmer and more confident.

• What do you do to manage yourself when your opponent performs well?

Do you have strategies that you use to keep yourself on task when you are losing?  Are you able to stay positive, and motivated to keep fighting for the win?

• What distractions must you manage in order to perform well?

List all the things that distract you in a games and the strategies that you have used to control them.  If there are distractions that you have not been able to manage well, brainstorm some things you would like to try and/or talk to one of your coaches to see if they have ideas for you.

• What do you see when you hit/field/throw/pitch well?

Can you recall the feeling of being so "in the zone" that everything in the periphery is a blur?

• Do you have natural focal points when training or competing?

Focal points help you minimize distractions and avoid the tendency to engage in left-brain thinking (the side that is associated with logic, analysis, criticism, fears and doubts).  It's important to select focal points that are constants as you don't want to pick a point that is at one field, but absent from another (the score board at Blumberg would not be good as it is not at Moffat Field...get it?) 

An example of a focal point would be a pitcher who walks up to the mound, looks down at her lead foot (that's the focal point) on the pitching rubber before she looks up to receive the signals from the catcher.  Or perhaps it is the batter who looks at a point on her bat before stepping in the box or a fielder who looks at the palm of the glove before getting into ready position... The simple act of looking at these points, taking a breath and using them as cues for the task ahead is enough to bring a player to the present moment, release unnecessary emotion like anxiety and fear, release physical tension and increase performance!

Hopefully these questions make sense and are meaningful for you.  Ultimately, how you answer these questions will provide the framework for your personal focus plan!

~H