“The Dallas Mavericks have had psychologist Don Kalkstein on staff for 15 years. While coaches closely examine offense and defense, Kalkstein focuses on something else. “[Players] do so much training, physically, fundamentally, that they often lack mental skills training,” he said. …
Another tactic he uses is something called a concentration grid — players cross off numbers 0-to-100 on a grid in sequential order as quickly as they can …. He distracts them as they do the task. “They learn to develop really laser focus when they’re asked to do that, instead of people talking about, ‘Hey, you got to concentrate,’ or ‘You got to focus,’ but they never tell them on what or how to,” Kalkstein said.”
http://www.latimes.com/sports/nba/la-sp-nba-psychology-20151227-story.html
