Have you been paying attention?

4.6 seconds to go.

You're down by 1 with the ball.

The crowd is on its feet, and it's so loud in the arena that you can't hear yourself in the timeout.

There is a turnover from the inbound pass—an absolute disaster. Your players on the floor drop their heads, and the players beside you on the bench look on in disbelief.

Where is your attention right at this moment?

Earlier this year Dave asked me what the most underrated coaching skill was. The more I thought about it, the more I kept returning to how important it is to be disciplined about where we direct our attention.

Attention is a fundamental concept in modern psychology. William James, in his 1890 seminal text The Principles of Psychology, dedicates a whole chapter to it. He describes attention as the "focalisation, concentration, of consciousness." 

But it is this quote from the chapter that interests me most:

There are 2 parts of the quote that I feel are worth diving into.

1. “What I agree to attend to."

Attention is a limited resource, and as such, it is something to be valued. We get to choose what we pay attention to. Whenever we decide to pay attention to something, we are saying that thing is important to us. 

Choosing what is worth your attention might just be one of the most important decisions a coach can make.

2. “Without selective interest, experience is an utter chaos."

For the most part, sport is a chaotic environment. There are so many factors interplaying with each other, it's optimistic (at best) to think we can be across everything, all the time.

If we try pay attention to everything, we are saying that everything is important. However, if everything is important, nothing is important. All we've done is increase the likelihood of being distracted from what really matters.

We need to ask ourselves:

• What matters the most for this group at this time?

• What should we be looking specifically for?

  And, perhaps most importantly,

• What are we not worried about?

 Steve Jobs knew this. He said:

That is the discipline. Once we land on the key areas we want to focus our attention on, infinitely more things will pop up to distract us from them. This is why planning and prioritisation are so important. It sets us up to be intentional with where we direct our attention. This gives ourselves greater clarity, as well as everyone else around us (i.e. other coaches and players).

In training this could look like sticking to the specific learning outcomes for a drill. For example if it is a defensive-focused drill, our attention stays on the defensive side. We don’t coach the offence, because if we do, we lessen the defensive learning.

In the team environment we might have the mantra of “Sweep the Sheds.” So there should always be attention paid to how the team cleans up after itself, what state meeting rooms and changing rooms are left in. It is incredibly easy to be distracted by other conversations that inevitably come up post trainings and meetings, but then we never get to check in with whether the “Sweeps the Sheds” mantra is being lived.

On a game day the coaching group comes up with 3 team focus points that have been meticulously planned through the week to give the team the best chance to perform. Yet, as the game is played these pre-game coaching points aren’t referenced by the coaches, nor are they discussed with the players in the breaks and attention is shifted to any number of areas that have not been mentioned by the coaches or the players before.

Each of those examples are simple, yet highlight that in the chaos of sport, there are a multitude of factors that can distract you. Being disciplined with attention gives the best chance that everyone will stay focussed on the areas that will have the most impact.

So, you're 1 point down.

You've just turned the ball over.

There are now only 3.5 seconds left on the clock.

Where is your attention at this point? Do you know where it should be?

Watch this exact scenario play out to Brad Stevens (Current Boston Celtics GM), when he was Head Coach of Butler University, in the video below (should start at the 2min 52sec mark). It is a masterclass on not being distracted from what matters.

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