Squash and Mindfulness for Focus Strengthening is a program created by sports psychologist Bailey Bondy from Tough Minds Sports Psychology to build athlete mental toughness and resilience.
This program seeks to educate athletes on becoming more self-aware by becoming aware of their thoughts and emotions and learning to let negative ones go without attaching themselves to them. Furthermore, techniques for increasing self-compassion as well as positive mantras will be taught during this program.
1. Focus on your breathing
Meditation may come to mind first when most people think of mindfulness exercises, which makes sense given its proven ability to reduce stress, improve sleep and boost focus. But mindfulness doesn’t just have to involve sitting quietly; practicing simple breathing exercises for just a minute every day may help calm you down and clear away negative thoughts from your head.
Begin by closing your eyes and finding a comfortable seating or lying position. Gently breathe through your nose and out through your mouth, noting how each breath enters through your nostrils, fills up your lungs, and leaves your body. If your thoughts wander off topic simply come back to breathing by noting how each inhale and exhale feels as it enters and leaves your body. If they do wander off keep coming back to it until all sensations of inhale and exhale are noticed again.
At work or at home, this mindfulness exercise is an easy and accessible way to practice without needing special equipment or a specific location. Simply focus on five items you can see with your eyes before moving onto hearing/smelling/feeling with hands, strengthening both attention span and ability to concentrate in any situation. With these quick mindfulness exercises you can strengthen both focus and concentration skills!
Body Scan meditation is another highly beneficial mindfulness exercise, suitable for anyone in any comfortable chair and without needing equipment or an isolated space. Focusing on each part of your body from feet to head and noticing any sensations or emotions that come up helps invoke the Observing Self which allows us to step back from experience while attuning with deeper, unchanging parts that don’t change with dynamic emotions.
Another effective method for cultivating focus is through mindful walking. To do this, find an environment free from distractions and set a timer for 25 minutes – starting out by doing shorter sessions before gradually increasing it over time.
2. Focus on your body
Focus is a critical skill that many top athletes possess and it can also be applied to squash courts. Being able to focus can assist us with accomplishing complex tasks quickly while managing sustained levels of effort over long periods.
Focus is inextricably tied to working memory, which serves as a mental workspace that temporarily stores information for processing. If we lose focus, our working memory becomes unfocused, making it harder to retain and process information. Mindfulness practices may help strengthen focus by encouraging a clear and focused working memory.
Poor focus can be likened to a balloon being carried away in the wind by its own weight, no matter what we try. One way of combatting this problem is practicing mindfulness exercises regularly – such as body scans – with particular attention paid to different parts of your body starting with feet and moving up through hands, arms and neck until reaching head level. Such body scans help people become aware of physical sensations such as tension as well as improve sleep quality for greater performance and efficiency.
Visualization is another effective mindfulness technique for focus, which involves concentrating on an image or scene. Visualizing success before competitions or practice sessions is a powerful way of visualizing success – having visual cues may also help people remain calm and increase confidence, though too much stress could hinder this method’s efficacy.
One simple way to practice visualization is to look at a piece of fruit. Any variety should work, just be sure it’s easily recognizable and familiar – look at its color, shape, texture and smell it to observe closely the aromas that emanate from its core. This practice makes mindfulness central as it forces one to pay close attention and observe carefully while also being interactive.
3. Focus on your opponent
Proficient squash players know the skill of anticipating and watching an opponent’s shots is a critical one for success in any fast-paced match where every second counts. Being able to predict an opponent’s shot allows them to get into position prior to it being struck, and buys invaluable seconds in such games where every second counts. Furthermore, this gives them an advantage by placing pressure on their opponent without risking their own shots in return.
Maintaining an awareness of your opponent throughout a match is vital, to avoid getting carried away by emotion or losing focus on what needs to be done in terms of actions and strategies. If you find yourself getting frustrated or losing confidence it’s easy to start over-analyzing the match or worrying about its future repercussions – yet this could prove detrimental in limiting success!
Practice mindfulness and concentration exercises outside of matches is an excellent way to hone your focus, helping you remain calm and focused during a match, as well as arming you with tools needed to overcome any challenges that arise.
Utilizing these techniques will enable you to become more aware of how your mental state and performance impact each other, giving you more informed decisions when approaching matches, giving yourself every chance for success.
There are various strategies to employ when playing squash, and finding one that works best for you can be tricky. Be open-minded and willing to change up your strategy as needed if needed; for instance if an opponent excels at blocking power shots against them then switching up your style may be necessary to win games.
Deception and unpredictability can also be useful tactics when playing against stronger opponents, by mixing up your shot selection or using deceptive shots such as boasts or drop shots to confuse their ability to predict your next move and catch them off guard. Practice these tactics during training sessions before trying them against a more experienced player in real games.
4. Focus on your game
Many players find it challenging to stay focused while playing squash, whether that be external (crowd or playing conditions) or internal distractions such as worrying about past performances or planning future ones. To stay on task and focus on playing at their highest level for longer. You must recognize these distracting thoughts and replace them with ones more beneficial to the game, to maintain focus for as long as possible.
One way to improve your focus while playing squash is by creating a mental cue for each match. This could include anything as simple as changing into your squash clothes or placing your squash bag in a specific spot before each game; what matters is that this action becomes part of your routine and becomes associated with squash and getting ready to play.
Focusing on the present moment can also help enhance your concentration while playing squash. By keeping in the present, this allows you to avoid becoming distracted by outside factors, like an opponent’s talent or your own level of play; instead, focus on what lies within your control, such as your skills and technique.
At the end of the day, it is vitally important that you remain aware of any injuries you might be suffering and take steps to keep them from worsening. If injured, do not try playing through pain – doing so only compounded it further – instead, stop playing immediately and seek medical treatment immediately.
Maintaining focus while playing squash can be challenging for even the top players, but by following the tips provided here you can begin making changes and becoming a more focused and effective player on court.