Cue utilization theory is the effect of stress or increased levels of physiological arousal on attentional processing of information (1). This theory is based around a range of arousal that spans from low to high. Athletes have many different ranges during competition, but most perform best somewhere between peak anxiety and arousal. When arousal is too high, athletes have a narrowed attentional capacity, to the point where task-relevant cues are rendered ineffective. An example would be a quarterback of your favorite team throwing an Interception right into the defenders hands and you wonder how he didn’t see him. The other end of the spectrum is when an athlete has low arousal and allows irrelevant cues to become attentional focus. An example of this is when a team or athlete underestimates and loses to a lesser opponent. Make sure even in practice that when you coach your athletes, that you make sure they focus and practice as if it were a competition. This will help them carry over the attentional focus to succeed when it counts the most.