Focused Attention

In an October 13 Sports Illustrated article titled “Manny in La La Land,” Los Angeles Dodgers’ general manager Ned Colletti says:

“I’ve been around Maddux, Bonds and Manny…they see and understand the game at a higher level than everybody else.  The game slows down for them.  It’s like they see everything in a frame-by-frame sequence.  It’s different from everybody else.”

 

The same happens in basketball players, too.  We try to account for a player’s success with many different reasons.  For example, we can look at LeBron James’ size and athleticism and attribute his success to these qualities.  And unfortunately, when we attribute success to these qualities, we start searching for the same qualities in our teammates and use those qualities as a baseline to determine potential success or that someone is an underachiever. 

However, athleticism is only a part of the story, just like a player’s shooting ability is only a small part of what it takes to be a good basketball player.

The best players focus their attention on the task.  They do not allow internal self-doubt or self-talk or external distractions affect their performance and their attention.  Manny Ramirez was “locked in” during the post-season.  That term represents his focus and attention, his ability to silence his mind and focus completely on the pitched ball.  He picks up subtle cues from the angle of the pitcher’s arm or the way the ball leaves his hand, which enhance his timing and ultimately his success.  The game slows because his attention is directed correctly.

One of the biggest deficiencies for younger players is slow reaction time.  The slow reactions do not necessarily mean the players are slow or not athletic.  Instead, they take too long to notice the subtle cues that an elite player, or even an experienced player, sees.  These younger players react at a conscious level, which is far too slow.  It’s not their fault, it’s just that they have not yet developed that court sense.  Elite or experienced players react at a subconscious level – they have learned to anticipate.

How many of you have seen the email floating around with the words of a sentence scrambled, yet your brain could easily read the sentence?  [Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.]

Neuroscientists have come to realize that how you perceive something isn’t simply a product of what your eyes and ears transmit to your brain.  It’s a product of your brain itself…visual perception is largely a result of statistical expectations, the brain’s way of explaining ambiguous visual signals in the most likely way.  And the likelihood of these explanations is a direct result of past experience.

To develop this sense, players must reach a certain level of skill and experience and that comes from deliberate practice.  Deliberate practice requires a specific goal, repetitions and feedback.   The deliberate practice enhances the experience.  Many players play a lot.  However, if a coach does not guide the experience and nurture the player’s development, there is some improvement from the experience, but not a giant leap.  Some players – often elite players – pick up on these cues on their own.   They focus their attention on the important cues and ignore extraneous information.

On the court, a player with the ball has to see the whole court and make a decision.  With nine other players, plus fans and coaches screaming, there are numerous distractions.  How does a player like Steve Nash consistently “see” the open man before he appears to be open?  He focuses his attention appropriately so the game slows.  Then, due to his experience, he quickly reacts based on statistical expectations.  

Blah, blah, blah…I know it sounds like garbage, but it’s true.

Nash makes the play look easy, because the game slows due to his directed attention, while a developing player makes the play look hard because it is so much faster in his less experienced, less focused mind.   What we often attribute to “eyes” or passing skill is actually a combination of experience, attention and confidence, a dynamic interplay of skills that we typically take for granted.

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