by Arthur L. Popp, Ph.D.

By the time he had retired at the end of the 2023 season, football  Coach Nick Saban of Alabama had won 7 national NCAA national titles.  Saban encouraged his players to disregard the clutter in their heads and focus on what they were doing at the moment, one play at a time. This is a variation on mindfulness-being highly focused on what we’re doing in the here and now.

The clutter in our heads can certainly mess things up. Just ask anyone who has served a match point in tennis or pickleball. Russ Harris, a well-known therapist wrote, “Our thoughts and feelings ‘hook’ us: they hook our attention, reel us in, jerk us around, and pull us off track.” (Russ Harris, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Made Simple, 2^nd ed, p. 20).

Here’s where some principles of sports psychology help.  

Working on our biceps or triceps in the gym strengthens our arms. A brief form of meditation, or even a standard meditation exercise, helps develop key parts of our brain and nervous system so we can stay highly focused on what we’re doing. 

Next, we can build our enhanced attention skills into what we do in any sport.  In a serve in pickleball, there are distinct steps, such as taking a stance to serve. Next, we  notice and name any disruptive thought or emotion or clutter, as Saban would call it. Then, we move forward from a back foot, focus intently down on the ball, and follow through with the serve.

Note that the skill or habit of the serve includes both the physical movements and distinct actions in our consciousness. The conscious habits are noticing and naming any disruptive thought or emotion and then focusing intently on the ball. These mental skills act to clear out the clutter that can get in the way of improving our performance.