Follow these guidelines to maximize your athletes' potential and to increase your effectiveness as a coach. Teach your athletes to focus, block out distractions, rebound from mistakes and to handle pressure right from the start. It is the foundation of mental toughness.
Concentration is the ability to focus in on what is important and block out everything else.
Catch yourself and quickly, and gently, bring yourself back to that performance focus. Every athlete concentrates before performance. Get your athletes to regularly practice developing an awareness of when they start to drift from a proper focus, and getting themselves back. Throughout practice routinely call their awareness to this mental skill. Help your athletes understand that the main difference between their best and worst performances has to do with their preperformance self-talk and thoughts.