The Athlete Brain

Olympic lessons culled from US Olympians of the 1996 Atlanta Summer  and 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics have identified the following fundamentals of performance success: 

 

1) Importance of Mental Training (Psychological Preparation that includes Mental Readiness, Focus, Confidence, Optimism, Positive Imagery - mental rehearsal & visualization, Resiliency, Emotional Regulation - less worry & anxiety -  and Constructive Debriefing)

 

2) Achieving Optimal Physical Conditioning while avoiding Over Training (Stamina, Speed, Agility, Flexibility, Power, Peripheral Awareness, Control)

 

3) Sticking to Your Performance Plans and Routines (Efficient Technical skills, Tactical Competence and Execution,  Pre & Post-Game Routines, including Diet and Nutrition program, Quality Sleep and Recovery, Continuous Learning, Adjustments and Adaptation with Coach Inputs)

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4) Enhancing Team Bonding and Understanding (Support and Cohesion) Another expect of the Athlete Brain that has to pay attention to is during the Games itself and these involves the interaction with family members, supporters and the media.  Each of these groups will require your time and you need to develop strategies how to manage their expectations to maintain focus in the face of potential Games or Competition distractions.

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Attentional focus is known to be associated with successful performance.  But to stay focus is not just a question of thinking about a specific object or idea.  If you feel stressed, tired or distracted then it becomes difficult for you to be focused.   It is just another way of saying that your brain waves are in a state of turbulence.  Your brain is being buffeted by issues or concerns that relates to some action, event, thoughts, ideas or words that has a non-positive impact on you.  These then feeds into your mental state and effects your athletic performance and routine. 

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Preparing Your Athlete Brain with NeurOptimal Dynamical Neurofeedback

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Successful athletes have discovered the power of neurofeedback to help them become more focused, calmer and resilient.  Some have mentioned it has helped them to improve on their technical (motor control, accuracy, reaction and anticipation) and cognitive (learning, analyzing, decision-making) skills as well as their social (positive mood) skills too.  Neurofeedback peak performance emphasizes on optimizing your attentional skills  - specifically to train your brain (mind) to be insulated from distractions while releasing that energy to be in sync with your immediate goals.  Your optimized brain is trained to be engaged and disengaged at its peak level.   When you have undergone neurofeedback training, you unconsciously and effortless have the energy of attention, thoughts, feelings and hence performance.  You will have that capacity to do more, have better concentration, reduce anxiety and improved control over negative emotions. All these amounts to what high-level performers describe as to be in the zone or performing effortlessly - 'being in the zone'- able to stay calm, yet alert and decisive when under pressure.

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Neurofeedback helps reach this pinnacle of performance by giving you direct feedback on your state of brain - training your brain so that your brain waves are optimized.  Whenever your brain is moving towards unproductive patterns, you will receive a negative feedback to alert the brain to come back to the "present". And when you train your brain, your brain learns to recognise its own activity. It learns to self-organize, to become more resilient and flexible.  Like a finely tuned car engine, your brain and body is ready for any action.

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Here is where NeurOptimal Dynamical Brain Training gives you that mental edge in preparing for your athletic performance of a life time.

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