Concentration and Attention Control in Tennis Athletes: A Literature Review
Chapter from the book:
Uluç,
E.
A.
&
Bulut,
Ç.
&
Uluç,
S.
(eds.)
2025.
Sports Sciences Research 8.
Synopsis
Tennis can be described as a sport played with a racket and ball, in individual and doubles formats, involving high levels of physical and cognitive demands. The fast pace and constantly changing game conditions require athletes to process perceptual information quickly and make accurate decisions.
Concentration refers to an athlete's capacity to maintain attention on a specific task, while attention control encompasses maintaining this focus and managing distracting stimuli. In tennis competitions, attention control is among the fundamental psychological factors determining the stability of performance, especially during critical game moments. Therefore, concentration and attention control are considered important cognitive skills supporting the continuity of performance in tennis. This book chapter addresses the topic of concentration and attention control in tennis athletes within the framework of theoretical approaches, measurement methods, and psychological interventions. The literature review concludes that attention and concentration processes play a decisive role in understanding the cognitive foundations of tennis performance.
