Mindfulness did not clearly help athletes pay attention better

The review

1. 01

   Who took part

   635 athletes from eight countries took part in 12 trials. Average ages ran from about 12 to about 26.

2. 02

   What they did

   Athletes practised mindfulness in many forms, from one session of 6 to 90 minutes to programmes of 2 weeks to 3 months. Most other groups did another active task, such as relaxation. Two groups waited, and two did nothing.

3. 03

   What happened

   Athletes who practised mindfulness rated themselves as more mindful, and did better on an inhibition test. The paper's numbers for that test and for brain activity don't match, so we can't give sizes. Attention did not clearly improve across five studies, and the abstract's gain shows only after one study was dropped.

What the review found

1. No difference

   In 5 studies, mindfulness did not clearly help athletes focus better than other groups.

   • Action: Practise mindfulnesstested

   Pooled analysis of 5 studies with 270 people · vs athletes who did other activities or waited · ⚠ the studies disagreed a lot; whole programmes were tested, so no single part can be credited

Source