How to Overcome Outside Distractions in Sports
Are you familiar with the expression, “living in a bubble,” which infers that you’re living in your own little world impervious to what is going on around you?
You may even have heard a similar expression, “Are you living under a rock?” to describe you’re unaware of what is happening in the outside world.
These two phrases are negative commentaries about a person solely wrapped up in their own personal life.
In sports, being in a bubble is not a bad thing.
The phrase, “performing in a bubble” refers to an athlete’s ability to block out distractions and focus on their game…
To be focused on their job…
To be immersed in the moment…
To ignore the outside chatter that messes with your mental game.
Getting into that mental state where you are totally focused is challenging.
A simple fact: It’s hard to ignore other people’s opinions, social media comments, teammate’s opinions, spectator’s jeers and coach’s remarks.
Unfortunately, some of that outside chatter seeps into your mind, contaminating your thoughts, undermining your flow, and creating a huge mental performance hurdle.
As challenging as outside chatter may be, you can learn how to focus through these distractions.
Let’s look at a recent example in sports…
Chicago Bears quarterback Mitchell Trubisky admitted that, early in his career, negative chatter prevented him from playing at his peak.
Despite being drafted by the Bears with the second overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft, Trubisky had difficulty blocking out the negative chatter from outside sources.
Listening to the negative outside chatter caused Trubisky to doubt his abilities even though he was a top talent in the draft.
Trubisky knew if he was to reach his potential as an athlete, he would need to learn how to prevent outside chatter from affecting his game.
TRUBISKY: “I know what that [negative chatter] did to me when I let those voices get inside. It was not good for my mental health. People are one keystroke away from accessing you. Why would I allow people who know nothing about me to have an opinion? Why would I allow them to have that space in my mind?”
Trubisky decided to not let other people’s opinions to reside in his mental space.
Trubisky realized that his athletic success is dependent upon controlling his mental chatter.
To deal with the problem of outside distractions, Trubisky created his own bubble, which he named “Zero Dark 10” (Ten refers to his uniform number).
In the space, Trubisky only allows positivity and laser focus when he takes the field to play.
TRUBISKY: “It’s important to always be in control of your time and your thoughts. You can’t let people on the outside take control. When you take away other people’s power over you, you’re in control of everything: your time, and how you’re working, and your peace of mind.”
As an athlete, you don’t want to invite distraction and negativity into your mindset. You want to take control of what you focus on and stay focused in your performance bubble.
How to Overcome Outside Distractions
Like Trubisky’s, “Zero Dark 10,” create your own performance bubble. Let the name of your bubble remind you to control your focus.
Your bubble can be an imaginary one that is around the sidelines, field, court, rink, or mat.
Decide to focus on what you can control in your sport environment–your thoughts and performance.
When you notice that you’re distracted by external stuff beyond your control, stop and refocus back to your bubble.
Check out “The Focused Athlete” or contact us today about mental game coaching for athletes and teams…
Improve Concentration in Sports!
If you’re an athlete who is frequently distracted, loses focus in competition, or wants to learn more about how to focus better under pressure, The Focused Athlete is for you!
Concentration and the ability to focus under adversity is what championship athletes do best.
It only takes one distraction to enter your mind for you to lose a critical point, miss a putt, or lose a second off your lap time. You cannot afford to let distractions run wild in your mind and cause you to make errors at critical times in the game!
The Focused Athlete is a complete system to teach you how to focus like a champion and harness the power of a zone focus every tie you step on the playing field, court, track or course in practice and games!
This workbook and CD program consists of 2 audio CDs that include 14 days of focus boosting exercises and a simple to follow workbook that guides you through each of the 14 days, helps you apply strategies, and customizes the exercises to your personal focus challenges.
You’ll Discover:
- How to quickly identify distractions that sabotage your concentration and how to quickly refocus after distractions.
- How to use pre-shot routines before shots or serves to help you be more task-focused instead of worrying about results.
- How to use pregame routines to help you harness the power of zone concentration before competition.
Learn more about one of our most popular CD programs in The Confident Athlete Series…
The Focused Athlete: A 14-Day Plan For Superior Concentration
What are customers saying about our mental game programs?
“As a result of reading and implementing ‘The Confident Athlete Series,’ I am once again enjoying golf and letting bad shots roll off my shoulders and appreciating my good shots without attaching expectations. Thanks Dr. Cohn!”
~Stu Blasius, P.G.A. Golf Professional“Your response to the throwing problem in front of the coach covers so many situations in life…that is the beauty of playing sports…the life learning experiences. Keep up the good work…you are the best mental coach.”
~Bill Brennan, sports parent
Boost Your Self-Confidence And Focus With Expert Mental Game Coaching!
If you’re a top performer during practice but find yourself under-performing in competition, the most likely culprit holding you back is your mental game. In fact, many athletes struggle with the same problem….
Master mental game coach Dr. Patrick Cohn can help you overcome your mental game issues with personal coaching.
Meet with us via Skype, phone, FaceTime, or GoTo Meeting. With today’s video technology, we are able to connect with athletes and coaches all over the globe.
Mental toughness coaching helps serious athletes like you to uncover the beliefs and attitudes that keep you from performing to your potential. You’ll learn mental game strategies to perform at your peak more often, overcoming performance plateaus and lack of consistency
Call us toll free at 888-742-7225 or contact us for more information about the different coaching programs we offer!
What are our mental coaching students saying?
“I have spent hundreds to dollars on clubs, putters, etc. always looking for answers. But I knew this was not going to work because I have some internal issues I had to deal with on the golf course. Working with Dr. Cohn on mental game by far is the best investment I have made. I have some great tools to work on to see my mental game improve. I feel better now than I have ever have on the golf course and I thank you so much for helping me with the positive mental direction.”
~Sean McQueary“Both of the last 2 weekends, Nicolas had high-pressure basketball tournaments where he really showed improvement and maturity! He reacted very calmly to missed shots and mistakes and was very poised in the very close finals game. We have never seen him so composed and locked-in on the issue at hand! He has also realized that and tells us that he feels more calm and confident than before.”
~Alex Mylonas, Nicolas’ father“Since I have been working with Dr. Cohn, I have noticed a dramatic improvement in my training and racing performance. Dr. Cohn has helped me to be much more confident in my racing and the results prove it! I look forward to your help as I move into the pro ranks.”
~Matt Boni, Motocross Champion“First, I would like to thank you for the help given to me through your programs, ‘The Confident Athlete’ and ‘The Focused Athlete.’ I have made tremendous sacrifices though all these years to become a top Olympic Trap shooter but something was missing. This missing part was with my mental game. My scores increased tremendously in record time and other said that I was a different shooter.”
~Marios Kapodistria