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Sports Performance and NeurofeedbackIn today’s highly competitive world of sports, athletes are looking for ways to excel in their game. Neurofeedback is being utilized by athletes in the pursuit of personal improvement in soccer, golf, baseball, football (particularly in the skilled positions), basketball, and other sports as well. As athletes we spend countless hours training our body in preparation for competition. Through drills, workouts, and training regimens we develop the physical strength and flexibility to perform the actions necessary for success in our chosen sport. Neurofeedback training should be considered as a form of mental training to enhance and support our physical efforts as we strive for peak performance. Neurofeedback training is intended to facilitate our ability to be relaxed, focused, directed, composed, and efficient. Neurofeedback sports training is a form of mental fitness.
The brain and subsequent thinking is a dynamic entity and needs to be able to shift quickly and efficiently between particular states in the interest of good performance. It is with Neurofeedback training that we strive to enhance our recognition or awareness of our mental states and subsequently our ability to achieve and control such mental states. We look to train the flexibility to enter and leave identifiable brain states at appropriate times and to recognize when that happens. Athletic Neurofeedback training focuses on flexibility and appropriateness and not on a particular set of brain frequencies.
During the course of athletic competition, mental flexibility and control are essential to maximizing the physical talents and skills one possesses or has developed through physical training. Just as an athlete’s body utilizes different and appropriate qualities at different points in competition, i.e., speed, strength, quickness, coordinated movement, eye-hand coordination, etc., so to is the flexibility of the mind required of the athlete. The athlete needs to take into account the overall scope of his/her task and to plan. There is a need to take in important variables related to the nature of the activity at the particular moment in the particular sport. There is often a need to be still and prepare for a brief moment of highly precise action. However, this action is often best accomplished in a relaxed, automatic fashion, free of the encumbrances of overt thought. Following the precise action, the athlete is often required to regroup and begin the same cycle again, or shift their mental state to give them their best opportunity at addressing successfully the next or subsequent tasks. During the course of competition, the athlete must be able to carry out repeated, precise, difficult maneuvers without tiring mentally, or allowing anger or frustration to compromise performance.
As an example, consider the different mental requirements placed on a baseball/softball hitter as he/she sits in the dugout, makes their way to the on-deck circle, prepares in the on-deck circle, approaches the plate, enters the batter’s box, focuses on the pitcher’s release point, responds to the pitched ball (swing/no swing), and then responds after making contact with the ball or taking a pitch. The athlete can benefit from being able to achieve the relevant brain state at the relevant time in competition. This is the foundational relationship between Neurofeedback training and athletic performance; to move gracefully and freely from appropriate mental state to appropriate mental state.
At the core of Neurofeedback training for athletes is relaxation and clarity of purpose. Training is intended to help remove the mental static that interferes with the reception of a clear signal, allowing us to more efficiently focus on the immediate task at hand. With Neurofeedback, it is possible to train specific changes in brain state, in particular brain locations, and in particular ways to improve ones ability to be relaxed, focused, composed, and efficient when needed. An athlete will act with a more automatic sense of confidence and simplicity toward a type of performance that has fewer errors, fewer distractions, and more productivity. Related Links
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