Positivity II – Performance and the Player’s Mindset

 

Stay focused

Last week we saw that whether or not there’s such an elusive mental state as ‘the zone’, it’s certainly well documented that the more focused a player is then the better they perform. Focus comes from mentally shutting out external influences that are not part of the activity the athlete is engaged in. So things like what the opponent is doing, or what’s going on outside of the game – such as issues at home, or in the stands – threaten to burst the bubble of focus.

 

However whilst on one level it sounds pretty straight forward to concentrate on the activity in hand, in practice it’s very difficult to do. What I argued last week is that the Christian player is uniquely gifted by God with a strong mindset that can really help focus.

 

Blocking out the noise

Philippians 4:7 tell us that God’s peace ‘will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus’. What this is saying is that external factors will threaten to determine how we think or feel, but that Christians have a stronger dynamic that is also at work that protects their thoughts and emotions – the peace of God that comes from being in Christ Jesus. This peace has two elements to it; on one hand it is the unmovable truth that we are at peace with God because of Jesus’ death on the cross, and on the other hand it is the feelings of peace that this reality – by the Holy Spirit – produces in us. What this enables Christians to do (and this applies to all of life – not just sport) is to block out the other factors that vie for our attention – the other influences that want to determine what we think about and how we feel. To illustrate this – it’s a lot like imagining that without Christ we are all walking around and what we hear is the noise of the world, but with Christ we have earphones in playing us the music of peace which is sweeter and louder than the noise of the world and enables us to block out all the other noise.

 

What does this mean in practice?

Imagine yourself in the game. Imagine that you’re quite focused but then you make a mistake and you’re really frustrated with yourself – now imagine yourself thinking that the mistake doesn’t matter because you’re at peace with God and so you shut the mistake out and focus on playing the game.

 

Now imagine yourself playing really well, when your opponent starts to try to get under your skin with some ‘verbals’. Immediately you’re tempted to react, to give him some back, but then you remember that it doesn’t matter what she or he says – you’re at peace with Christ and so you say a quick prayer asking God to guard your heart, then you just smile and stay focused on playing the game.

 

Whatever comes your way trying to burst your bubble of focus, imagine Christ as a soldier standing at the door of your heart. He doesn’t let anything negative come in – he just turns it all away and keeps his peace secure within. As he does so – you stay focused on what you’re doing and play to the best of your ability – to the glory of God.

Pete