According to 30 year NCAA Division-I Coach and nationally recognized leader in Applied Sport Psychology, Dr. Rick McGuire, Focus is a fundamental skill of sports and like other fundamental skills it can and must be taught to athletes.

In the video clips below Dr McGuire talks about Concentration and it role in improving focus.

He gives you a routine to teach athletes to keep their attention on the things that matter in their sport.

This clip is from a dvd about improving focus in athletes. For more information regarding the dvd click the link Teaching Your Athletes the Skill of Focus

The YouTube video has sound, so please make sure that your sound is turned on and that you have access to the site.

Courtesy of Coaches Network

By Kevin Bryant

I have attended the Oregon Athletic Directors Association annual conference every year since 1999. This past spring, there was a first: A break-out session led by a sports psychologist. At these outstanding annual meetings, we’ve learned lessons on a broad spectrum of topics, but never before had attendees been introduced to mental skills training.

Implementing sports psychology into high school sports has been slow for several reasons. First, mental training can seem like a “mystical” area, so we do not have much confidence in it. Second, many coaches feel that spending practice time on techniques and tactics offers greater payoff.

But I believe the time has come to invest in mental skills training (MST) at the high school level.

Consider this quote by inventor Charles Kettering: “There exist limitless opportunities in every industry. Where there is an open mind, there will always be a frontier.” Sport psychology is a frontier that can provide limitless opportunity in our “industry” for life-long impact and influence. It is a program for those of us looking to establish a lasting legacy and to invest our best in the lives of coaches and student-athletes.

WHAT IT OFFERS
The overarching goal of a basic MST program is to help athletes become self-directed in their approach to sport and life, which leads them to be their best competitive and academic selves. Many coaches work hard to motivate their players each and every day. With MST, athletes learn how to motivate themselves, based on their unique personalities and goals. This will impact both individual and team performance.

Author and veteran tennis coach Ronald Woods sums up the objective nicely: “Place the responsibility directly on the players so that they realize that they can control their own destiny and future development,” he wrote in “The Mental Side of High School Tennis,” an article published in the Journal of Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance.

The empowerment Woods speaks of easily carries over to academic goals, making for stronger student-athletes overall. “When athletic programs offer both physical and mental skills training, they provide a better argument that participation in competitive sport can also be a valuable educational experience,” wrote Weinberg and Williams in Applied Sports Psychology. Students can use the mental techniques they learn in class, at work, or in negotiating their next steps in life, and these skills will last long after their competitive sports careers are over.

For the here and now, MST leads to effective goal-setting, better focus on the task at hand, and an ability to adjust to adverse situations. This can be just what a teenager needs, as they struggle with uncertainty, immaturity, and a lack of self-confidence during the often difficult high school years.

But of course, the benefits do not manifest overnight. Coaches must spend time teaching mental skills just as they do physical ones. The most effective plan for implementation includes four stages: education, acquisition of skills, implementation, and evaluation.

EDUCATION FIRST
The best way to integrate MST into a high school athletic department is to start with the coaches. Ideally, an athletic director can conduct a training session in the late spring so that each coach has the summer to put a program in place for his or her specific teams in the upcoming year.

From there coaches can introduce MST to student-athletes. Initial steps should include sending a letter home to parents that describes the training and holding a few sessions with student-athletes. Depending on the school culture, a meeting with parents might also be a good idea.

At the first meeting with athletes, coaches should educate by outlining the four key mental skills. They include the following:

Goal setting provides direction, increases motivation, directs attention, and raises self-confidence. Athletes can be taught about the different types of goals—season-long vs. weekly, individual vs. team, practice vs. competitive, process vs. outcome.

Imagery helps athletes create a blueprint for performing a skill. This may include body position, sequencing, timing, and specific movements. Incorporating as many senses as possible makes it easier to create a more vivid image.

Energy management allows athletes to perform at their best emotionally. They learn to manage emotions during competition and gain a sense of control over a situation. This can ensure that energy is directed toward becoming focused and not wasted on corralling one’s feelings. It can also lessen anxiety and apprehension and boost positive expectations.

An interesting aspect of energy management is learning to suppress the judgmental impulse. We spend a lot of effort on evaluating ourselves and our surroundings. During competition, this can be counter-productive, taking an athlete’s focus away from the task at hand.

Self-talk assists athletes in reaching their ideal mental state. It entails finding cue words to help players focus and keep a positive outlook. We all have to deal with “the critic” in our heads, and self-talk gives us responses to the negative statements we have about ourselves.

Another aspect of the education phase is to administer an initial assessment of the student-athletes’ mental skills through the Athletic Coping Skills Inventory (ACSI). Its questions delve into the following areas:

• Coping with adversity

• Coachability

• Concentration

• Confidence and achievement motivation

• Goal setting and mental preparation

• Peaking under pressure

• Freedom from worry.

Each athlete’s test results provide baseline data on his or her mental skills. By answering the assessment’s questions and then self-scoring, the athletes gain an understanding of their weaknesses in mental skills and why such skills are necessary. (See “Resources” on page 49.)

CLASSROOM PRACTICE
The next part of the program is the acquisition phase—team sessions revolving around the development of the four key skills. I suggest conducting four 30-minute meetings, with each focusing on one skill. The best way to teach these techniques is to keep things simple and use examples that your student-athletes will understand.

Consider starting with something to catch their attention. For instance, to introduce the session on energy management to a tennis team, a coach could show a short clip of the final few points of the 2010 Wimbledon match between John Isner and Nicholas Mahut, which lasted 11 hours and 5 minutes over three days (the final score was 6-4, 3-6, 6-7(7-9), 7-6(7-3), 70-68 for a total of 183 games). After viewing this video, ask the athletes, “So why might energy management be important in tennis?”

From there, coaches can lead athletes through a discussion on the emotions they feel when they find themselves at certain junctures in a match. For example, have the players think about what they feel when they are up 5-2 in the third set. Then have them think about being down 2-5 in the third set. Prompts can include:

• What is going through your mind?

• How do you overcome the anxiety that accompanies being down 2-5?

• What strategies focus you on the task at hand and not the score?

• How can you suppress the impulse to be judgmental?

Lesson plans should differ depending on the sport and maturity level of participants. The coach should also gauge how fast or slow to present the information based on the particular make-up of the team. (See “Lesson Plan” on page 46 for a sample.)

MST INTO PLAY
The implementation phase is where the skills learned are put to use. Coaches should prompt athletes to do this with quick reminders before practices and games. But it will ultimately come down to each athlete incorporating the techniques moment to moment.

It can help to take 30 minutes weekly for discussion. This can be scheduled as part of practice or accomplished whenever there are down times such as during bus rides or a weather delay. Having honest discussions as a team about the challenges and successes related to exercising basic mental skills will result in growth, just like discussing proper technique in sports skills enhances physical performance.

The final stage of an MST program is the evaluation phase, in which coaches monitor progress through several avenues. One is by having athletes complete feedback forms after the initial education sessions, at the mid-point of the season, and as the season comes to a close.

A second tool is weekly comment and observation sheets where athletes share how the program is working for them and what specific help they need to become more proficient in the use of mental skills. Keeping a log of thoughts, successes, and failures will allow athletes and coaches to gain awareness and to improve. (See “Resources,” below, for access to a sample player log.)

The goal of this basic MST program is for high school athletes to acquire the mental skills necessary for success in their sport and in life. Further, the program will help our young people become more self-activated, invested in their personal growth, and effective on any field of play.

Not all of these ideas apply to everyone, but hopefully you can find a few that will work for your situation!

Get up fifteen minutes earlier • Prepare for the morning the night before • Avoid relying on chemical aids • Set appointments ahead • Don’t rely on your memory … write it down • Practice preventative maintenance • Make duplicate keys • Say no more often • Set priorities in your life • Avoid negative people • Use time wisely • Simplify meal times • Always make copies of important papers • Anticipate your needs • Repair anything that doesn’t work properly • Ask for help with the jobs you dislike • Break large tasks into bite size portions • Look at problems as challenges • Look at challenges differently • Unclutter your life. Smile • Be prepared for rain • Tickle a baby • Pet a friendly dog/cat • Don’t know all the answers • Look for the silver lining • Say something nice to someone • Teach a kid to fly a kite • Walk in the rain • Schedule play time into: every day • Take a bubble bath • Be aware of the decisions you make • Believe in you • Stop saying negative things to yourself • Visualize yourself winning • Develop your sense of humor • Stop thinking tomorrow will be a better day • Have goals for yourself • Dance a jig • Say hello to a stranger • Ask a friend for a hug • Look up at the stars • Practice breathing slowly • Learn to whistle a tune • Read a poem • Listen to a symphony • Watch a ballet • Read a story curled up in bed • Do a brand new thing • Stop a bad habit • Buy yourself a flower • Take stock of your achievements • Find support from others • Ask someone to be your “vent-partner” • Do it today • Work at being cheerful and optimistic • Put safety first • Do everything in moderation • Pay attention to your appearance • Strive for excellence NOT perfection • Stretch your limits a little each day • Look at a work of art • Hum a jingle • Maintain your weight • Plant a tree • Feed the birds • Practice grace under pressure • Stand up and stretch • Always have a plan “B” • Learn a new doodle • Memorize a joke • Be responsible for your feelings • Learn to meet your own needs • Become a better listener • Know your limitations and let others know them too • Tell someone to have it good day in pig latin • Throw a paper airplane • Exercise every day • Learn the words to a new song • Get to work early • Clean out one closet • Play patty cake with a toddler • Go on a picnic • Take a different route to work • Leave work early (with permission) • Put air freshener in your car • Watch a movie and eat popcorn • Write a note to a far away friend • Go to a ball game and scream • Cook a meal and eat it by candlelight • Recognize the importance of unconditional love • Remember that stress is-an attitude • Keep a journal • Practice a monster smile • Remember you always have options • Have a support network of people, place and things • Quit trying to “fix” other people • Get enough sleep • Talk less and listen more • Freely praise other people • P S. Relax, take each day at a time … you have the rest of your life to live.

The following article was written by Juan Pablo Favero, Head Women’s Soccer Coach at Oakland University.  It was originally published in The NSCAA Soccer Journal

The hope is that these ideas can be used for any sport, modified to the needs of your program, and shared with your athletes. I hope it stimulates thought and discussion among your coaching staff as to how you can create your own list of and examples of “Controllables” to help your athletes improve their performance.

Controlling the “Controllables”

Every sport has specific demands that must be mastered in order to successfully play and excel as an athlete.

Physical, Technical, Tactical, and Psychological attributes serve as building blocks for success. In soccer, physical qualities like strength, speed and agility ale critical. Technical skills such as passing, receiving and heading are important abilities that must be mastered. Tactical intelligence includes vision awareness and decision-making on and off the bail. Other sports have similarly important elements In each of these areas. Some of the key mental skills in all sports are focus, optimism, and self-confidence and all these skills can be developed and strengthened.

One of the Mental Toughness principles I teach our players is controlling the “controllables’. Athletes have limited physical and emotional energy so wasting time and energy on things you have no control over and can’t do anything about, not only can empty your energy tank but also lead to frustration and decreased performance. Examples of things you cannot control: are the weather, field conditions, the crowd, and the referee to name a few.

Instead, make, the conscious effort to focus on the things you can do something about and have control over. Here is the Top Ten list I have encouraged our Aztecs to focus on controlling.

1. ATTITUDE – Everything starts and ends with attitude and if you get it right, all else will fall in line with it. A positive, winning attitude helps you succeed and impact those around you. One of my favorite quotes on attitude is by Tony DiCicco, World Cup champion coach in 1999. “Attitude is a choice that can color any situation and it is contagious. You must act as the player you ware to become. Confident players focus on what they can do and don’t worry about what they can’t.”

2. EFFORT – How hard you work is up to you and no one else. If you give up that control, you are giving away one of the main things that sets you apart from the rest. Your effort must also be smart and reflected in your work rate in practice and games. Anson Dorrance who has won 21 National Championships puts it this way: “Winning is not something built in a day; it is constructed year-round. As always, it comes down to progressive, consistent effort, with a view toward a long-range goal.”

3. FOCUS – I define focus as relaxed concentration; it becomes especially important in games where outside distractions can keep you from performing at your best. Your focus must be on the here and now, on each play, one at a time. NBA coach Phil Jackson says, “The key is seeing and doing. If you’re focusing on anything other than reading the court and doing what needs to be done, the moment will pass you by.”

4. FITNESS – The work you put into your physical conditioning will directly affect your ability to play while making a positive impact for your team. Two-time World Cup champion Michelle Akers gives the following advice: “Be committed to the one thing you can control – your fitness. Be smart and be aware that your decisions and actions on and off the field affect the team.”

5. PREPARATION – Bobby Knight says t all: The will to win is overrated in athletics, because everyone wants to win. It’s the will to prepare to win that makes the difference. A side benefit of proper preparation is that it also helps you feel more confident.

REST AND NUTRITION – Your performance is directly impacted by your food and hydration choices as well as the amount of rest and seep you get. Some research on your part will help you make better choices in this area.

COACHABILITY – This has to do with your ability to receive, accept, and apply the coaching points from your coach. The smartest players not only learn from the coach, but also from their teammates.

EMOTIONS – You must act your way into Feeling and not feeling a certain way before you act. Former University of North Carolina basketball coach, Dean Smith said: You can act yourself into a new way of thinking more easily than you can think yourself into a new way of acting.

COMMUNICATION – Positive, assertive, and clear communication is not only something you can control, hut will also give you and your team an edge. Megan Jurado a 2012 NSCAA All-American for us at San Diego State said, ‘The sports psychology exercises really help our communication and how we work together. I think it has brought us together as a team.’

BODY LANGUAGE – While this is a part of communication, it is actually the most visible and easiest thing you can change. If you walk out with confident body language and remain that way under pressure situations, it will send a clear and powerful message to your teammates, your coach, and your opponents.

So I encourage you to concentrate on the controllables. Start with attitude and pick one other quality at a time to work on with your players. You and your team will start to think more effectively and steadily perform at a higher level.

By Juan Pablo Favero, Associate Head Coach San Diego State University Women’s Soccer.

Originally published on the Coach and Athletic Director site and republished with permission of both parties.

It’s frustrating for athletes when they’re running on fumes, feeling like they have nothing more to give and that no matter what they do there is nothing left to push past a seemingly insurmountable wall. They can feel hopelessness, discouragement and defeat knocking at their door.

Whether the exhaustion is physical, emotional, mental or a combination of the three, we have all experienced what it’s like to “hit the wall.” While the wall is definitely not a good state to be in, there are two important facts we must remember for our own sake as well as that of the groups or teams we lead or coach.

First, athletes must understand that these moments can be overcome. They do have more in the tank if they grind it out. Second, when we don’t quit and we overcome these walls, they serve as a catalyst for growth and potentiate future success in a way that we, and our teams, would otherwise never experience.

In overcoming personal and professional walls, as well as helping athletes and teams overcome their walls, I have developed a very practical list of strategies over the years that I trust can assist both you and your teams to overcome obstacles.

Here are 10 ideas you can use with your own programs.

1 One step at a time. A popular sports cliché is “one game at a time.” This mentality is imperative for individuals and teams to succeed. When we hit walls, the finish line can seem very distant and the goal, which started out as a motivating force, can instantly become overwhelming and even demotivating.

We must remember that the emotional and physical tank is already running low when the wall comes into the forefront, so the time to focus on the big picture is not now. For this reason, it is imperative to just take the next small step, whichever it may be.

One more action stripped down to the most simple of levels allows us to regain momentum toward the direction we set out when we began. Once you complete that next step, the focus can move to the following step and so forth. Before you know it, you have overcome the wall by taking several small steps forward.

2 Positive self talk. The power of our internal dialogue is well researched and documented. There is no other moment as important as this to use this cognitive skill.

When you or your team struggles, the battle has to be waged and won inside the mind. The cognitive-behavioral cycle above helps explain how our thoughts give birth to every result we experience.

Every thought is a seed that grows into an attitude or mindset. Our attitudes in turn guide our actions or behaviors, which then yield consequences or results. Our results reaffirm and strengthen our thoughts and the cycle goes on.

If we want to have a different outcome, we must first change our “mental playlist” from negative, defeatist thoughts to positive, conquering ones. The use of cue words and affirmations both silently (internally) and out loud (externally) does indeed begin to energize us towards overcoming the wall and allow us to push past it, thus creating a different result.

The key is to remain positive, even in the midst of difficulties and challenges. This is the choice we, and our teams, must make.

3 Help one another. The beauty of being part of a team is critically important during the difficult moments. The accountability, encouragement and synergy that come from others pushing you forward should never be underestimated.

A relevant metaphor is “iron sharpening iron.” The positive voice of someone with whom you have a good relationship can be an energizing force to propel you past the wall. We must teach and encourage our teams to do this for each other. When you combine the use of positive self-talk and encouraging, uplifting communication, you create a contagious force that builds positive momentum.

4 Visualization. This is another very effective technique. At its most foundational level, visualizing simply means seeing yourself in the place you want to be. It is taking our positive thoughts and using our imagination to paint powerful pictures in our mind’s eye. By imagining ourselves successfully overcoming the challenge and believing that we can do it, we unleash the inner power inside our minds to fill our bodies with the belief necessary to continue our climb.

A quote I heard in grad school is, “Belief is the mother of all reality.” I would add that belief followed by action leads to the new reality we are seeking. Visualizing oneself and our teams being successful sets the stage for the materialization of success. Unfortunately, the opposite is also true.

5 Mental strength. There is no substitute to sheer will power, desire and the determination to see things through to their completion. Whether this is innate doesn’t really matter as much as the fact that any person can indeed develop and strengthen this kind of grit.

As leaders, we must assist our teams in the development of this skill by setting up challenging tasks for them to overcome. Mental strength, like a muscle, must be exercised and built little by little. It is forged only when we come face to face with walls — maybe small ones at first — and successfully overcome them.

The more we and our teams will ourselves to not give up and quit, the more mental strength we develop, allowing us to take on steeper challenges.

6 Past achievements. Whenever doubt kicks in and thoughts of quitting start to circle our heads, one quick way to evict these is to recall and focus on instances where we have successfully overcome past challenges. It may be the same or a similar experience, but focusing on previous successes and the positive feelings and emotions associated with them gives an instant boost of confidence, energy and motivation to keep going. Because the wall is a place of doubt, we must help our teams remember triumphs of the past in order to regain the confidence needed to experience success in the present.

7 Minor victories. This goes hand-in-hand with the first strategy of taking one step at a time, but the emphasis here is on the importance of celebrating a successful step in the right direction or an approximation to the desired outcome.

There is much research on the power of positive reinforcement and rewards, but the most practical concept I have seen and used on the matter is “catch them being good,” as explained in the book with the same title by Dr. Colleen Hacker and Tony DiCicco.

Simple yet very specific and genuine reinforcement related to an athlete’s effort and achievements goes a long way and helps build momentum.

8 Push past the pain. When we reach that point of wanting to give up or surrendering to the obstacle, we must push ourselves past our discomfort and pain. Much like a runner’s high produces instant gratification and a release of endorphins, pushing past the pain barrier creates the same kind of euphoric high, which serves as fuel. This mindset also propels our teams from bad to better, from good to great, and most of all, into their personal and collective best.

9 Focus on the why. The “what” is the goal, the “how” is the process, but the “why” is where the secrets lie. It’s important to distinguish that the “why” is not the goal itself but the reasons why we pursue a goal to begin with.

We must help our teams find and define their “why” long before the moment when the wall stops our forward momentum. The “why” gives purpose, and it’s the reasons behind the mission and the vision. Therefore, our job as leaders is to help define the team’s joint “why.” If the “why” is not clear, people won’t fight, won’t push and won’t persevere.

When the “why” is clearly communicated and defined, it serves as a force that pulls our teams toward the goal and past the walls they face.

10 Reward yourself and the team. The final step is to simply stop and smell the roses when the goal is achieved. I discovered that when this is done in a tangible and meaningful way, it serves to recharge both emotional and physical energy needed for the next challenge.

One suggestion here is to find ways to commemorate and symbolize big achievements. Whether it’s an autographed ball, a photograph or something more intricate, memorializing a triumph has a way of both acknowledging past victories and motivating for success over future walls.

A final thought to leave with you has to do with attitude. We, and our teams, must not allow for an outlook of fear and trepidation toward facing walls and obstacles. We must instead develop a mindset and culture where walls are looked at as not only opportunities but embraced as a blessing, as something meant to be overcome, and to bring out the best in us.

In the short film “The Butterfly Circus,” featuring Nick Vujicic, a quote that resonated deeply within me envelops what our mindset ought to be toward any wall we may face: “The greater the struggle, the more glorious the triumph.”

I wish you and your teams the struggles necessary to bring forth the memorable triumphs.