• Fitness & Health
• Sport & Exercise Science
• Physical Education
• Strength & Conditioning
• Sports Medicine
• Sport Management
• Dance

How to use attentional focus cues

This is an excerpt from On the Inside Edge by Ryan Hamilton.

Mental Edge Work: Attentional Focus Cues

Attentional focus cues are a strategy used to promote the correct intensity and direction of focus. Focus cues are short reminders of where to place your attention, and there are a few keys to using them effectively.

Step One: Create the Cue

A focus cue is a short phrase (even one word) that you can use to direct or redirect your focus to what is important in the game. There are a few keys to developing them effectively.

• Direction. Focus cues aren’t simply reminders to pay attention, like saying, “Come on, focus” or “Concentrate.” There needs to be an object or direction of the focus. Examples: “Win your battles.” “Let it go.” “Keep competing.”
• Personal. The cue needs to mean something to you. Others can’t give you the cue.
• Positive. The cue should be about something you want versus want to avoid.
• Brief. Your cues should be short, snappy, and to the point. Although they represent something larger and more complex, any cue to apply in a game must be brief.
• Trained. Practice your cues regularly so they are more effective in a game.

Step Two: Implement the Cue

When you notice your attention has been captured by some internal or external distractor, it’s time to implement your cue(s). Because we are always breathing in the present, it makes sense to anchor a focus cue to a conscious breath. It works like this: Inhale through your nose to a count of four. Hold for count of two. As you exhale, state your focus cue either out loud or in your mind.

Step Three: Cue the Cue

One day I was walking through the rink hallway at a World Junior Hockey Championship. There was a player writing with a black felt-tip pen on the white tape at the top of his stick. He called me over and said, “Hammy, look at this,” showing me what he had written. Three letters: J B S. He then described the meaning: “J means jump—I’m going to be ready to explode into the play whenever the opportunity is there. B means big—I’m a big guy and I need to make sure I’m always using my size. And S means skate—I get in trouble when I stand around; when in doubt, skate it out.” I absolutely loved this. The marking on the tape was a reminder for him to use his direct, personal, positive, and brief focus cues.

More Examples of Focus Cues

“Get into the body.” “Fill the lane.” “Rip the puck.” “Push the pace.” “Take a breath.” “What’s important now?”

From R. Hamilton, On the Inside Edge (Human Kinetics, 2027).

More Excerpts From On the Inside Edge

---