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m_fkillA While ago i mentioned that I was going to write a blog post about Focus, Eventually here it is.
Last year I bought Sports Psychology for Dummies book. One of the first exercises in the book is to ask your team mates to evaluate some aspects of your performance. This was quite a scary thing for me to do, I'm not the sort of person who has ever put herself into positions that open me up to public feedback such as a politician,musician actor or artist so wasn't sure what people would say or how I would cope if there was a lot of negative feedback.
The feedback I received was generally positive but something that did crop up in the comments was that I tend to lose focus on the tasks i am given when playing. This most often occurs when I'm assigned to play offensive blocker to help our jammer through the pack. It all goes well until I see the opposing jammer and i'm "Oooh shiny Jammer" and take it upon myself to divert my attention from our jammer and start blocking and hitting the other jammer.
So fortunately the book has a really good chapter on Focus, the different types of Focus, things that affect our Focus and how it can be improved.
There are a few things that I have found that have started to improve my focus.
An exercise in the book is to pick an object, a candle, or point on the wall and concentrate on it for thirty seconds without being distracted by things happening around you or stray thoughts entering your head. Do this a few times a week and then work on increaseing the length of time.
The Sports Psychology for Dummies also talks about Centreing and breathing but doesn't really explain what it is. Kamikaze Kitten of LRG taught me a good exercise for this.
Take a Deep breadth slowly, breathing in for a count of 6 seconds, hold it for 1 second then breathe out for 6 seconds.
These two exercises can be done at the same time and really complement each other well. Find somewhere quiet and away from the noise and hustle of modern life, make sure you are comfortable and not rushed.
Prior to our last bout I wrote down on paper the 3 things i wanted to concentrate on during the bout and pinned it above my desk about a week before. Its still there now as the 3 things are still really relevant and help to remind me of what to do.
At Scrimmage I have volunteered to be the offensive blocker and made sure the pack knew that is what I would be concentrating on. Tell the jammer at the start that's what I'll be doing and at the end asking the jammer if I did a good job.
Being a bit of a geek, I have actually written an Android App, to help with the 1st two exercises, it available from the Google play site on your phone. it means you can concentrate on the exercises without having to worry about the counting and getting distracted by that.
Last year I bought Sports Psychology for Dummies book. One of the first exercises in the book is to ask your team mates to evaluate some aspects of your performance. This was quite a scary thing for me to do, I'm not the sort of person who has ever put herself into positions that open me up to public feedback such as a politician,musician actor or artist so wasn't sure what people would say or how I would cope if there was a lot of negative feedback.
The feedback I received was generally positive but something that did crop up in the comments was that I tend to lose focus on the tasks i am given when playing. This most often occurs when I'm assigned to play offensive blocker to help our jammer through the pack. It all goes well until I see the opposing jammer and i'm "Oooh shiny Jammer" and take it upon myself to divert my attention from our jammer and start blocking and hitting the other jammer.
So fortunately the book has a really good chapter on Focus, the different types of Focus, things that affect our Focus and how it can be improved.
There are a few things that I have found that have started to improve my focus.
An exercise in the book is to pick an object, a candle, or point on the wall and concentrate on it for thirty seconds without being distracted by things happening around you or stray thoughts entering your head. Do this a few times a week and then work on increaseing the length of time.
The Sports Psychology for Dummies also talks about Centreing and breathing but doesn't really explain what it is. Kamikaze Kitten of LRG taught me a good exercise for this.
Take a Deep breadth slowly, breathing in for a count of 6 seconds, hold it for 1 second then breathe out for 6 seconds.
These two exercises can be done at the same time and really complement each other well. Find somewhere quiet and away from the noise and hustle of modern life, make sure you are comfortable and not rushed.
Prior to our last bout I wrote down on paper the 3 things i wanted to concentrate on during the bout and pinned it above my desk about a week before. Its still there now as the 3 things are still really relevant and help to remind me of what to do.
At Scrimmage I have volunteered to be the offensive blocker and made sure the pack knew that is what I would be concentrating on. Tell the jammer at the start that's what I'll be doing and at the end asking the jammer if I did a good job.
Being a bit of a geek, I have actually written an Android App, to help with the 1st two exercises, it available from the Google play site on your phone. it means you can concentrate on the exercises without having to worry about the counting and getting distracted by that.
