What Coaches Can Learn From a Student Distraction Chart

I’ve always found Edutopia to be both insightful and useful. They’re unafraid to take a different lens on educational settings, and I’ve found their tools translate seamlessly into coaching.

This distraction chart is a great example. Imagine giving your players the ability to actually NAME what’s pulling their focus. Most of them have never been asked to do that.

Nick Winkelman’s The Language of Coaching makes the point that humans are hardwired to mind-wander. Our brains naturally shift attention, and simply yelling “lock in” doesn’t override that wiring.

One of the most effective ways to grab attention is novelty. That’s why something like this—maybe reframed as “Where do your eyes go during a timeout?”—hits different. It’s fresh, it’s memorable, and it puts language to what most players have only felt as a vague distraction.

Instead of demanding focus, we can give our guys tools to redirect it.

Coach Prompts

• What’s your current method for helping players recognize when they’ve lost focus?

• How do you teach focus instead of just demanding it?

• Could a simple tool like a “timeout distraction chart” create more awareness in your team?

Player Prompts

• What usually pulls your attention away during practice or games?

• How do you bring yourself back when your mind starts to wander?

• If you could design your own “focus reset” strategy, what would it look like?