Athletes are often told to focus, lock in, or block everything else out. The problem is that attention does not work like an on-and-off switch. During competition, your attention constantly moves between your surroundings, your thoughts, your body, your teammates, and the task directly in front of you.
Distraction is not always a sign that an athlete lacks focus. Often, the issue is that their attention has moved to the wrong place for the moment.
Sport psychologist Robert Nideffer developed a useful model for understanding these shifts. His model organizes attention along two dimensions: broad or narrow and internal or external. Together, these create four different styles of attention. Each style has a purpose, and athletes often need to move through several of them within a single play, race, routine, or point.
Broad and External: Seeing the Whole Picture
A broad-external focus means taking in several things happening around you at once.
A quarterback scans the defense before the snap. A point guard sees the spacing of teammates and defenders. A soccer player looks across the field before receiving a pass. A coach watches the energy, positioning, and communication of the entire team.
This style is useful when athletes need to assess the environment, recognize patterns, or make decisions. The risk is taking in too much information. The crowd, scoreboard, officials, opponent, and previous mistake can all compete for attention.
Broad and Internal: Thinking and Planning
A broad-internal focus involves considering several thoughts, feelings, or pieces of information inside yourself.
A golfer evaluates the wind, distance, lie, and possible shot options. A swimmer reflects on pacing and race strategy. A coach thinks through possible adjustments before the next period. An athlete may also use this style after competition to review what worked and what needs to change.
Broad-internal attention is helpful for planning and analyzing. However, athletes can get stuck here. Thinking through a decision can quickly become overthinking, especially when pressure is high and action is required.
Narrow and Internal: Preparing Yourself
A narrow-internal focus brings attention to one specific thought, feeling, image, or physical sensation.
This might include repeating a cue word, visualizing the next movement, taking one controlled breath, or checking for unnecessary tension. A free-throw shooter might think, “smooth.” A gymnast might picture the first skill of a routine. A runner might notice their breathing and relax their shoulders.
This style is especially useful before action. It helps an athlete organize themselves and prepare to execute. The danger is becoming overly focused on mechanics, anxiety, fatigue, or negative self-talk.
Narrow and External: Executing the Skill
A narrow-external focus means directing attention toward one specific cue outside yourself.
A tennis player watches the ball during the return. A hockey player focuses on the opening in the net. A golfer commits to the target. A receiver tracks the ball into their hands.
This is often where execution happens. The athlete is no longer considering every possible outcome or analyzing the entire situation. Attention has narrowed to the cue that matters most right now.
The Goal Is Not to Stay in One Quadrant
There is no single “best” attentional style. Strong performers are able to shift their attention based on what the situation requires.
An athlete might scan the field, consider the available options, use one breath and a cue word, and then focus on the target. Problems occur when attention becomes stuck. The athlete continues analyzing when it is time to act, focuses on one mistake while the game moves on, or notices every distraction except the information needed for the next play.
That is why focus is better understood as the ability to return, not the ability to never become distracted.
Return to What’s Important Now
When you notice that your attention has moved somewhere unhelpful, do not fight the thought or demand that your mind immediately go blank. That usually gives the distraction even more attention.
Instead, gently ask:
What’s Important Now?
The answer should be specific and connected to the next action.
It might be the ball, your breathing, your defensive assignment, your pace, the target, your communication, or the first movement of the next skill.
Notice where your attention went. Accept that it moved. Then guide it back to the cue that helps you perform.
You are going to get distracted. You are going to think about mistakes, outcomes, pressure, fatigue, and things outside your control. Mental performance is not about preventing every one of those moments.
It is about training the return.
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