“Focus on What?”: Applying Research Findings on Attentional Focus for Elite-Level Soccer Coaching

Despite increased publications on the topic of mental skills (i.e., over 1,200 peer-reviewed papers published in the last 20 years), minimal knowledge is translated into practical guidance for coaches. Expressions such as “Pay attention” and “Focus” are frequently heard in coaching, yet the meaning of these phrases is not easily understood nor applied. Therefore, we aim to help elite-level soccer coaches better understand what it means to pay attention and focus, while providing practical suggestions to improve athletes’ abilities to focus, refocus, minimize distractions and instances of choking, and forget about performance mistakes while in the moment.