The following is an excerpt from my book, The Why of Sports.
Presence is the opposite of distraction. It is a fully embodied state of being where you are unified with your current moment-to-moment experience. Almost every student or athlete will say they’ve had a teacher or coach who tells them to focus. In my experience, few, if any, can say that a teacher or coach has ever taught them how to focus. This can be frustrating — not knowing how to do the very thing you know you need to do.
I recall being a young pitcher during my Little League days. Anyone who’s ever pitched knows how lonely it can be out there on the mound. You’re right there in the middle of it all, trying to throw that ball past batter after batter. Much of the team’s success rests on your ability to do that.
My dad would go to most of my games. Sometimes, between pitches, especially if I were becoming erratic, I’d hear him yell to me: “Concentrate!” And while he was well-intentioned, I really had no idea how to do that, which often just made the problem worse.
Many athletes learn to focus through trial and error. You might stumble upon the realization that you played really well and seemed to be totally present with it all. You might even realize that you have some control over it, which you do. In fact, your presence is always available to you. Your presence is your fundamental consciousness. It is your state of being before distracting thoughts appear.
The trick to being present is as much a passive act as an active one. In a sense, you’re simply letting go of whatever distractions are stealing your focus. Shifting your attention from your thoughts to your breath — from your mind to your body — is a good way to do this. And when you can learn to let go of distraction, then you’re really on to something. This is a skill that can be learned and practiced at any time.
When you catch yourself in a state of distraction, gently return to focusing on what’s really happening right now, in this current moment of life.
That question — how do you actually learn to be present? — became the foundation of my coaching work. Everything I do with athletes and coaches grows from it.
If it resonates, there are sixty more chapters where this one came from. The Why of Sports is available here or wherever you buy books.
— Pete
Notes arrive on Sundays and some Wednesdays
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About me, and Practice Notes → here
About Integrative Coaching → here
About my book, The Why of Sports → here
