Why "FOCUS" is the key to success...
During competition lots of things compete for our attention. The best performances come when you can totally connect to the physical execution of your skill, and let the body "do what it is trained to do"! Athletes spend hours learning a skill, they repeat the skill over and over and it is in this repetition of the skill that muscle memory is created. Once this "muscle memory" is created, the execution of the "action" can take place with very little thought. When an athlete can focus on the task completely and get absorbed in the "doing", performance can lead to excellence.
Athletes need to learn how to direct their attention to the "right" things and away from the "wrong" things. In competition they are bombarded by stimuli that do not "enhance" performance. For example,
Things you CAN control
- Your training
- Your focus
- Your effort
Things you CAN'T control
- Conditions
- Opponents
- Distractions ie) crowds, noise
Athletes who learn to focus on the process, on the DOING, and not on the outcome will succeed. Athletes who read the environment and take in and absorb any relevant information will be able to ignore the distractions and excel. Top athletes learn how to pay attention to the task at hand and tune out everything else.
Most athletes recognize when their focus is not optimized. They can feel their heart racing and their muscles tense. Their arousal is too high. We teach athletes to use "cue words" to bring their focus back to the task at hand. Most athletes will use a "physical" cue like "BREATHE", or "RELAX and RELEASE" to illicit a physical response.
When athletes can become completely absorbed with the task at hand, when they can immerse themselves and connect to the "DOING", when they can suspend all distractions and judgments' and let their bodies LEAD, they will experience the kind of FLOW that leads to Peak Performance!
Cheers!
Jan
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