• Optimal performance"El Surf" is Copyrighted by Flickr user: Lanpernas 2.0 (Lanpernas Dospuntotzero) under the Creative Commons Attribution license.
  
  

Issues

• The practical goal of attention control theory is to try to come up with a set of training techniques to support those mental skills that underlie optimal performance.
  
  

Goal Setting

• Csikszentmihalyi, in his book "Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience," says flow, the psychological experience which underlies peak performance, requires good goal setting skills.
  
  

Arousal Control

• The Yerkes-Dodson law says that optimal performance is supported by a level of arousal that's "just right." Too little or too much arousal negatively affects performance.
  
  

Concentration and Focus

• Often when an athlete fails to performance, or "chokes," it's because of a lack of sufficient concentration and focus at a critical moment. Attention control theory is concerned with understanding the attention factors that underlie optimal performance.
  
  

Psychological Recovery from Injury

• When an athlete is injured, especially during a performance season, the injury is not only physical but also psychological. The negative psychological consequences of injury can be loss of confidence and fear of further injury. Attention control theory is concerned with finding the best way to help an athlete psychologically recover from injury.