I am often asked which mental skill is the most important in tennis. In many years of providing sport psychology services I would have to say that proper focus or “attention control” is the hands down winner. Unforced errors, poor decisions, and inconsistent performance can all be caused by any number of distractions in tennis. It is so important to know what to focus on, how to shift focus properly, and how to maintain focus or concentrate over a long period.
There are so many ways to lose focus. Even top ATP and WTA professionals struggle here. It’s actually natural to lose focus because our very survival in the past depended upon the ability of our senses to rapidly detect danger in the wild. Snooze while eating your afternoon snack and you would become the snack! While it’s no longer a life or death struggle in the 21st century, your tennis opponents probably would simply love to devour you. The fact is that winning and losing often comes down to which player focuses more effectively. You need strategies to overcome the impulse toward distraction.
In a typical tennis match, you are constantly bombarded by an endless array of internal and external stimuli, thoughts, and emotions. Given this abundance of information it’s amazing that you can make sense of anything. In varying degrees of efficiency, you’ve developed the ability to tune into what is truly important while blocking out the excess. This process of directing our awareness to relevant stimuli is called selective attention. Many believe this is the most important mental characteristic for successful performance.
Concentration, or staying on task over a period of time, might appear to require great strain and exertion, but once you get it, the reverse is actually true. Effective concentration has been described as “effortless effort,” being “in the zone,” a “flow” state. It’s a passive process of being totally absorbed in the present and fascinated by the object of fixation.
But learning to concentrate is a very difficult skill to master because, as previously mentioned, our minds tend to shift focus when presented with novel stimuli. Known as the “orienting response,” this bias toward new sights and sounds alerted our ancestors to dangers in the wild, but it devastates our tennis. A split second loss of concentration during a critical point can equal doom.
Careful planning and mental training help you gain supremacy over your focus faculties. I often tell my clients that they need to go into a “focus trance” in competition. Practice setting a mental habit of focus in motion when you’re in the calm of the office or on the phone, in what I call the “war room.” It is in these calm states that you have the ability to try new things and develop ideal mental habits for later use. In the heat of battle when so many things are going on, your reactions and habits will rule the day. The idea is to make sure the proper habits of focus emerge when you’re on court during competition.
Fortunately, selective attention, concentration, and focus shifting are skills that can be learned, refined, and perfected just like volleys and drop shots. Since few players invest quality time on attention skills, there is an immediate and tangible reward for those who do. I believe the struggle with yourself over focus is even more fundamental than the clash with your opponent. Only after preparing yourself for a match are you truly ready to take it to someone else on court.
Here are 10 specific ways of improving attention control and going into a “focus trance” more often:
- Avoid negative thoughts and feelings, as these are needless distractions that rob you of limited focus capacity.
- Remain focused on the present, attending to what is immediately important and blocking out past and future concerns and points. After a mistake, briefly note any changes necessary then move decisively to the next point.
- Recite key words or phrases to yourself prior to the point to remind yourself to concentrate (e.g., "focus," "control," "good contact").
- Be task- rather than outcome-oriented. Thinking about the score or how you look are common distractions. The outcome only improves when you ignore it and attend to the task at hand.
- Slightly relax between points while avoiding external distractions. Some players achieve this by staring at an object (e.g., racket strings) and visualizing the next point.
- Keep to yourself and avoid talking to your opponent or spectators during changeovers. This is your time to recharge energies, sip water, and calmly regain your focus for the next game.
- Add a ritual, or consistent routine, to your game (e.g., adjust footwork, bounce ball) to help fight off needless distractions and keep your mind from wandering.
- Be particularly vigilant when fatigued. Players often lose their focus when tired.
- Attention and energy levels are closely related. Avoid becoming overly excited while remaining focused on executing shots and implementing your strategy. Breathing and/or relaxation exercises can help lower arousal.
- Coaches should make practices fun by frequently allowing players to choose which skills to practice and varying the routine. This increases motivation and leads to improved focus.
Dr. John F Murray is a sports psychologist in Palm Beach, Florida and at *www.JohnFMurray.com*