Trouble Focusing During Sets

[C.O.K.]

Hey everyone! I'm new here to Smashboards. I'm a TN Peach player that's been playing for little over a year now. One thing that I've noticed while playing is that I seem to have a lot of trouble focusing during sets. Like, my mind tends to blank out and go into I guess autopilot? Trust me, my autopilot is bad. Does anybody have any sort of advice to help increase focus during a match? Anything is appreciated. Thanks again!

 

[iAmMatt]

I find that actively thinking about my choices and focusing on exactly what's happening during any given time during the set helps me stay focused

 

[Ezlo]

The book "The inner games of Tennis" is probably the best resource on the topic of focus

This book is godsend. I highly recommend it, not only for focus, but also for a good number of other things, like practicing and mindset.


Focus is always going to be difficult. It's a skill, just like everything else seems to be -- the more you practice it, the better you get. It sounds to me though like you don't really know where to begin.

I'd recommend starting by, like iAmMatt said, actively thinking about choices and exactly what's going on. That in itself might not make you focus, but it'll certainly help. I like to direct my attention to everything my opponent does. In The Inner Game of Tennis, it talks about concentrating on the way that the lines on a tennis ball move in order to keep focus. The theme here isn't just concentration -- it's direction. Everyone can focus, but a lot of the time they idle because they don't have anything specific to focus on. Until you're more used to being focused, pointing most or all of your concentration on one part of what's happening on screen will probably help. Remember, though, there's a million ways to become focused, and this is only a trick to help -- ideally, some day you'll be able to sit down and be focused immediately.

Now, the hard part is staying focused once you've gotten there. I'll make another post on that in a few hours, when I have more time. Hope this helps!

WARNING: LONG POST

Heyo. Sorry for the double post, but I did say I'd post again in a few hours.
Mod Edit: Merged Posts.
Alright, so let's say you followed my advice, or came up with your own ideas, for how to get 'into' focus. But there's one big problem -- focus is really, really hard to maintain.

So what exactly is focus? A lot of people will say something like, "it's when you pay attention to something." That's true, kind of, but it's a bit more. Focus, or at least really good focus, is when you pay close attention to what you want to pay attention to, and little to nothing else. The last section was important. This is why multitasking, while helpful, is often really bad for concentration. The less you think about, the more you're able to focus on what you need to.

That sounds pretty simple on paper. It actually isn't that difficult to achieve, either -- this is why it seems pretty easy to achieve focus when you pay attention to something in the game. The only problem is that (depending on what's happening around you and how practiced you are) it can be difficult to hold your focus for any amount of time, sometimes even just for a few seconds. One reason for this is that our minds like to wander. But there's another, too (which is mentioned a lot in The Inner Game of Tennis btw). We often start critiquing ourselves, or thinking about things that affect how we play, instead of merely thinking about the game at hand.

Example:
You're knitting for a good turnip against a marth on FD. You pull one when he's just a bit too close...
DAMN! I pulled too many turnips! Now he's going to punish me really hard. I might even lose my stock for that.

That was one thought too many. While it's fine to notice that you pulled a turnip at bad spacing, since that's paying close attention to what's going on, the moment you think about the marth's future punish and the potential lost stock, it makes it impossible to keep a clear head. By critiquing yourself so hard, you've lost focus, and it'll take some time to get it back.

Even attempting to focus can make it difficult to maintain, as bizarre as that may sound. Have you ever been concentrating, and thought,
Breathe in and out. Don't lose focus. If you lose focus, you'll play worse.
Chances are, it didn't help much. Maybe the breathing helped, but the thoughts themselves would not. "Why wouldn't they help?" you might ask, which is a fair question. The issue is that you're taking your mind off of the task at hand, and paying just as much attention to your own ability to focus. You've split up your thought process between the game and yourself, which in fact HURTS your focus.

"So what am I supposed to do?" you might ask. "It's like trying not to think about a pink elephant." You'd be right. That's exactly why it's difficult to maintain focus. But not all hope is lost! It's just that you have something new to practice, as well -- focusing.

Some people say that the best way to practice focusing is meditation. I think it helps, but it's not necessary. If you want to practice concentrating on only melee, simply try to do so. If you're lucky enough to have someone else who wants to practice focus as well, maybe start up some friendlies with them. Play however much you want, whether in Bo3 sets, single games, whatever, and take frequent breaks to get water and such. Play, and just observe what happens in your head. You'll probably drift in and out as you play. Whenever you realize you're not concentrating, gently bring your attention back to the game, and perhaps pay special attention to one particular aspect -- what the controller feels like in your hand, how your opponent moves, whatever. That's one of many ways to gradually improve your focus, and how long you can focus for.

The best thing for practicing focus, though, is practicing it in everything. Whether you're doing homework, writing a book, playing football, whatever, do your best to tune out distractions, and isolate only what you need to concentrate on. Of course, you don't need to (and actually shouldn't) do this all day, but practicing focus frequently will help you -- not only in smash, but in anything that you want to be good at.

Wow. That was long even for my standards. Sorry! But, hopefully it helped.

 

[Cressel]

I've found myself to focus better when I have a gameplan. thinking about a strategy lets me avoid drifting off as I know what I'm looking for during the game.