The ability to exert mental effort on the task at
hand, or on what is most important in any situation,
while ignoring distractions (Moran, 1996). For example,
during a team talk before a crucial match, players make
an effort to focus carefully on their coach’s instructions.
In cognitive sport psychology, concentration is regarded
as one component of the multidimensional construct of
attention—the mental system that facilitates the selection
of some information for further processing while
inhibiting the selection of other information for subsequent
analysis. Concentration has been likened to a
mental spotlight that illuminates targets that are located
either in the world around us or in the subjective
domain of our own thoughts and feelings (Moran &
Toner, 2017). This spotlight metaphor highlights the
fact that although concentration cannot be “lost” (as it
has to be shining somewhere), it can be directed at the
wrong target—one that is irrelevant to the task at hand.
Competitive sport is replete with distractions that can
disrupt athletes’ concentration. Whereas external distractions
are objective stimuli that divert our attentional
spotlight away from its intended target, internal distractions
include a vast array of thoughts, feelings, and
bodily sensations (e.g., pain, fatigue) which impede athletes’
efforts to concentrate on the job at hand. Typical
external distractions include crowd movements, sudden
changes in ambient noise levels, and gamesmanship by
opponents. Typical internal distractions include wondering
what might happen in the future; regretting what
has happened in the past; and feeling tired, bored, or
otherwise upset. Research shows that concentration
skills are vital for success in sport. For example,
Swann, Keegan, Crust, and Piggott (2016) discovered
that effortful concentration facilitated peak performance
among elite golfers. Concentration skills in athletes can
be improved by psychological techniques such as specifying
performance goals (actions that are under the control
of the athlete), using preperformance routines
(preferred sequences of preparatory thoughts and
actions), trigger words (instructional cues or reminders),
and mental practice (rehearsing an action in one’s
imagination without engaging in the actual movements
involved).
