By Rudi Webster
Concentration is a mental skill that can be learned and improved. It helps you to make the best use of your ability and sometimes gives you an edge over players who are physically more talented. It is a key to good performance and is a major strength of all good players. Athletes tend to become what they concentrate on, and in a sense, they are usually where their concentration is.
Many coaches tell their players to put their heads down and concentrate. Sounds great, but they don’t tell them what to concentrate on, how to narrow and widen their attention, how to keep it in the present, how to lock it in to block out distractions or how and when to turn it on and turn it off.
Sir Garfield Sobers attributes most of his success to his great powers of concentration. He said that the only time he had problems with concentration was when he was too anxious, when he was mentally tired, or when he was not interested in what he was doing.
Webster. What do you concentrate on when you are batting?
Sir Garfield. I watch the ball leaving the bowler’s hand and try to pick up its trajectory as early as possible. I used to practice this in the nets and would play games with myself to see how quickly I could see the ball and get into position to play it. I would experiment and look at different things. I would try to see the bowler’s fingers on the ball and pick up what he was doing with them. I would notice the point in the delivery at which the ball was released. I would watch the bowler’s head, the position of his feet, his front shoulder and front arm – all sorts of things. These experiments helped me to bat better in the match. When I am batting in the middle, I know the exact position of every fielder.
Webster. What about distractions?
Sir Garfield. I see a lot of players stop the bowler in his run-up because someone moved near the sightscreen. Others are distracted by crowd noise, remarks from the opposition, or by their own negative thoughts. When I am batting, the moment I face up to the bowler, my concentration is zeroed in on him and the ball. Everything else is shut out.
Webster. How did you prevent yourself from becoming mentally tired?
Sir Garfield. I used to stay relaxed and would take breaks in concentration between overs or sometimes between balls. You must know how and when to turn off your concentration and how and when to turn it back on. After facing a few balls, I would take my mind away from the game and think about something else, but as soon as I faced up to the bowler, I would turn my concentration back on and refocus it on the ball.
Many batsmen get mentally tired because they don’t take these breaks. And if a ball beats them, they think about it while the bowler is going back to his mark, and worry about what might happen with the next ball. They premeditate, start looking for problems that are not there, and create them in their minds. You do best when you keep your mind in the present and focus your thoughts on playing the next ball on its merits.
Webster. You made a century against England in Jamaica on a wicket that was rated as one of the worst ever Test wickets. How did you do that?
Sir Garfield. I saw it as a great challenge and I knew that I would have to concentrate really well to score runs. I told myself that I could bat on the wicket and I was determined not to throw away my wicket. A lot of the players were psyched out by the wicket and got out in their minds before they went out to bat. I focused on playing each ball on its merits. The ball did some unusual and dangerous things at times but that didn’t worry me. You see, I was only interested in the next ball and didn’t think about the one before or the one that was coming after the next ball. I assumed that each ball would behave normally and if it didn’t, it either missed my bat, or I left it alone or altered my stroke.
Webster. So you played down the difficulties of the wicket and concentrated on playing one ball at a time.
Sir Garfield. Yes. That was the plan. I enjoy playing in difficult situations. They motivate me to play well, and that is when I concentrate best. I usually say to myself, “This is the test. These are the situations that separate the best players from the others.” If you face up to difficult situations with negative thoughts and worry about the things that might or might not happen, you won’t concentrate well or play well.
Webster. So pressure improves your concentration?
Sir Garfield. Yes. Pressure on the team improves my concentration. If you are a team man, awareness of the position of the team or the situation it is facing is a good way to build and maintain your concentration. When you are batting, you have to help the player at the other end, as well as the other batsmen who are coming in after him. That responsibility motivated me and improved my discipline and concentration.
Webster. How do you organise your innings?
Sir Garfield. When I go out to bat, I sum up the situation quickly. I focus on the score, the team position, the wicket, the bowlers, the field placings and the weather conditions. I then identify what is required of me and focus on what I have to do to meet those requirements. I try to get over the first challenge and as soon as I do so, I concentrate on the next one. The situations sometimes change rapidly and you must be able to quickly adapt to them. A lot of players don’t know how to identify the challenges in the situations they face, how to think simply and sensibly about them, and how to tailor their skills and resources to handle them.
Webster. Why do so many batsmen get out in the nineties?
Sir Garfield. Because they focus on the hundred when they should be concentrating on playing the next ball on its merits. Many of them become anxious and impatient and do silly things. If you just focus on the result, and ignore the process, you will have trouble reaching your goals.
I strongly believe that one of the greatest lessons you can give to young players is to teach them how to think for themselves, how to improve their concentration, and how to tailor their skills to capitalise on the situations they face.
Sir Garfield’s words of wisdom are still very potent today. If the regional teams, and the junior and senior West Indies teams commit to improving their concentration and confidence by as little as 15 percent they would automatically improve standards and soon get back to winning ways.
