He once said, "Baseball is 90% mental. The other half is physical."
Sports gurus are well-aware of the mental aspects of sports and often play into the psychology of their opponent rather than the sport itself.
But this is about to change.
Source: nature.com
Revolution in sports on the way
Thanks to modern technology, MRI machines (that require a person to lie down in order to scan the body) have now become portable and can be taken out into the field.
This makes it easy to capture the moment when an athlete is 'in the zone'.
When working our muscles in the gym, they get stronger. Similarly, neuroscience has laid the groundwork for us to understand our brains when engaged in a sport.
These techniques can offer a diverse range of improvements in performance. For instance, it can give better judgment to a pro-cricketer to help them predict the ball that will be thrown. It could also, for example, help a rugby player optimize their reactive abilities.
Applied neuroscience for the win
Applied neuroscience has the ability to not only measure the brain but help upgrade it.
This comes with the development of new technology and it getting cheaper and more accessible.
Source: americanfootballinternational.com
As a result, we are able to measure the brain's processing speed, reaction time, the field of view, among other properties.
These dynamic techniques built on neurofeedback and cognitive training help athletes experience improved performance and post-workout clarity.
While this technology is still in the developing stage, the future of sports is surely about to change.
'Changing the brain's performance'
"We're actually changing the brain's performance in a very profound and measurable way. The concept of neuro performance started in the scientific arena and then moved into the military arena. This type of technology is now migrating its way into the commercial realm. The first and probably the most important place where it's going to be used is in sports," said Dr. David Bach, MD, CEO of Optios.
Optios is one example of an organization that has been experimenting with these tools and has seen beneficial results.
In just a few years, it will be impossible to compete in sporting events without implementing neuro-training into one's workout routine.
Source: condorperformance.com
Early adopters to lead the way
As early adopters will try and experiment with this training, more results will come out showing the benefits of these techniques.
Elite sports already used a lot of psychological tools to try and understand sports as we know it.
During a game, the mind is required to be at peak performance mainly because one has to take decisions in split seconds. While we have understood a lot about the body, the brain still remains a mystery.
By studying the brain, we might not only be able to help athletes improve their performance, we might even be able to help those that were injured during a sport with lasting consequences.
As a whole, neuro-training will help unlock the hidden potentials of the human body and offer benefits in physical development.
Thus, neuro-training will soon revolutionize sports as we know it.
