attentional styles - stress management

internal (category 1)

focusing on thoughts and feelings

external (category 1)

focusing on the environment, e.g the positions of other players or the flight of the ball

broad (category 2)

a wide range of cues to respond to e.g the changing positions of players in a game, as well as the weather , and whether to pass or shoot.

Narrow (category 2)

Having a minimal range of cues to respond to e.g concentrting on only yur own alne and the finish line in a 100m race

focus categorised

Neideffer suggests that the kind of attetnional focus required ofr different activities varies

internal/ external part of the diagram

• represents a dichotomy - this means that attention is either internal or external and cannot lie anywhere in between the 2

in general, closed skills require a narrow focus and open skills a broad focus

people usually have a preffered attentional style - changing from one style to another can be affected by personal preference and anxiety which will affect how quickly and to the extent we change

cue utilisation

Extreme levels of arousal can cause such acute levels of perceptual narrowing that a person is not able to concentrate or make decisions effectively, and can even affect the smooth control of physical movements. This is known as the ‘blind panic’ or hypervigilance

under arousal

in squash focus on the ball and run into the wall - hypervigilence

under aroused

• cannot focus attention on relevant cues in the attention field. Therefroe you are concentrating on things like the crowd, the opposition, the weather condiitons etc. there are too many things to think about

optimal level

You can focus your concentration on important cues and stimuli in the field. For example, this migth be on the movement of a team mate or an opponent you are marking. you only focus on relevant cues

over aroused

attention narrows so much that important cues are being missed. fro exmaple might lose your marker or not spot a teammate in a good position. This happens because you start to panic and get over aroused. this is called hypervigilance