"Training the Brain to Play": Scientific Zen for Athletes?

[jkrispies]

This month's Men's Journal has an article entitled "Building the New Super Athlete" with a sub-section entitled "Training the Brain to Play Like a Machine" that introduces scientists who are hooking athletes onto brain scanners connected to video games (for lack of a better term) to train them how to reach the perfect frame of mind for game-day optimal performance.

One company is Neurotopia that has brain scanned 1,200 athletes from pro-golfers to Red Bull sponsored athletes like Travis Pastrana. Their break-through discovery is the identification of "distinct patterns in the way the top pros were able to toggle back and forth between focusing on the task and then, at the moment of truth--in this case [pro golfer Rickie] Fowler swinging the putter--relaxing into an open mental state. That's a skill that doesn't show up in the brain scans of even a scratch club player. 'I don't want to stand on a pedestal and say we've figured it all out,' Sherlin says, 'because this data is still anecdotal. But definitely, the elite perform differently, even if the nonelite is really good.'"

The article goes on to say that junior tennis player Nick Podesta benefits from the training: "During a match, he says, he now finds it easier to maintain his concentration--in Neurotopia-speak his 'focus endurance.' If the match isn't going well, if the weather conditions are bad or the line calls are going against him, he taps into another Neurotopia training, 'stress recovery,' a kind of Zen letting-go empowered by a decrease in 'mind chatter.' 'I'm physically pumped up, running down balls,' he says. 'But my mind is able to stay relaxed, in the moment. I'm not overthinking.'"

I thought of this Zen forum while I was reading the article and decided to throw the article highlights up here to see if anybody had a comment on it.

Later,

J

PS: Coincidentally, the same issue has a bio on Buddhist scholar Robert Thurman.

Edited July 28, 2013 by jkrispies

[Ultimo-Hombre]

Good stuff. I just finished reading Tim gallwey's inner game book.

His use of shutting off "self 1" or whichever term is used for conscious thought matches what you have found.

Your reference is the first time I've seen that says that only the uber elite do it.

It makes me wonder then, are they elite because they posess a unique ability that can't be learned or have they learned the ability which has made them elite?

No thought, no trying, empty mind letting it happen.

Such delicate inner workings..... So elusive.

[jkrispies]

I'm in education and was at a training listening to somebody talk about something or other, and they unintentionally gave me an a-ha moment. We've all heard that we only use 20% of our brain, and the other 80% pretty much just takes up space. That never made sense to me because evolution doesn't like excess. Plus, humans are evolutionarilly superior because of our brain-to-body ratio... but what's the point if we don't use the whole brain, right? Anyway, what this educational trainer implied is that we only use 20% brain capability in everyday activity because the other 80% is kept in reserve for snap "fight or flight" moments.

Now, if you've ever been in a fight or flight moment, you know that there isn't much thought involved-- it just kinda happens, and when it's done you go, "Wow, I survived!" The brain shuts down all that isn't necessary for the task at hand and siphons 100% of the mind/body into that activity.

So... this makes me wonder if elite athletes who are able to harness Zen-like "thoughtless action" are in fact tapping into the 80% of the brain that's reserved for fight or flight. It seems to me that the trick here would be that they've trained so hard for their activity that it's largely become a "brain stem activity," which is where our semi-habitual actions are controled; for example, think of the times you've driven home from work and then suddenly snapped awake when you pull into your driveway not remembering the drive from Point A to Point B. In that instance, you were driving with your brainstem and not your brain. It's not to say that you were driving without thought--you'd crash a dozen times over if that was the case--but you're not driving with your conscious brain as the typical person understands it.

If what I'm theorizing is correct, then these well-trained athletes truly are acting in a superhuman-like state relative to the rest of us who are stuck at 20% brain capacity.

(Sorry if this sounds like I'm rationalizing too much for the subject at hand. I don't do Zen, per se, but I get the whole "let the mind go blank" concept and have mulled it over from time to time throughout my life.)

[eric nielsen]

Someone at our match yesterday was quoting one of the recent studies that states there is no such thing as multi-tasking. True, at a conscious thought level, there is only task-shifting. But with learned-response training & experience, many things can be done at once at a subconscious level. Best proof of this for me was learning to land an airplane in a gusting, shearing crosswind. Lots of things all come together in one place at one time to pull that off. The reason it is considered okay to acknowledge the control tower's wind calls and clearance to land while on short final, with just 2 clicks of the mic button, is because frequently there is not enough spare brain circuitry left to compose a spoken response.

[Miranda]

futher drifting...

I have read that 20 percent of our brain is all we use.

and variants like 12 percent.

some where along the line I decided the idea had a flaw.

This is to say that we are using a lot more 'brainpower' ...for lack of a better word...

then the 20 percent. we just have not figured out how it is being used.

from all I read, us humans utilize on a sustained basis, about 1/3 of our capacity.

Our heart muscle and general blood distribution are examples.

In one heart-beat the heart is in contraction for about one third of the cycle,

it is relaxing for the other two thirds.

we seem to use most of our blood to exercise or digest or think

rarely can we do any two of those at one time.

with the thought that all cells need a rest period, for our brain to be in constant service

there has to be some way for a cell to rest.

I had decided that at any one time, when the scientists say we are using one brain-cell,

we are using at least three brain-cells. (I have no proof or background to sustain this notion...)

miranda

[Ultimo-Hombre]

Someone at our match yesterday was quoting one of the recent studies that states there is no such thing as multi-tasking. True, at a conscious thought level, there is only task-shifting. But with learned-response training & experience, many things can be done at once at a subconscious level. Best proof of this for me was learning to land an airplane in a gusting, shearing crosswind. Lots of things all come together in one place at one time to pull that off. The reason it is considered okay to acknowledge the control tower's wind calls and clearance to land while on short final, with just 2 clicks of the mic button, is because frequently there is not enough spare brain circuitry left to compose a spoken response.

To go a bit further down this rabbit hole...

A professional pilot with thousands of hours in type has no problem reading back a landing clearance in difficult landing conditions ( it is in fact required by the FAR's. not doing so at a class B airport will have you in serious hot water!) again the control inputs required occur without any conscious thought, but the lower time pilot is often at task saturation during that same landing... Add that radio call to his task saturated mind and things fall apart.

Perhaps the very skilled shooter can tolerate some thought distractions in much the same way, because watching the sights and trigger control happen correctly without conscious thought.

[jkrispies]

An accepted rule of thumb is that it takes 10,000 hours of experience with an activity for a practitioner to achieve expert proficiency. If a shooter has that much experience I would expect that many aspects of shooting that many shooters have to be aware of would be second nature so thenthought process could be directed elsewhere.

[Paul-the new guy]

The reason it is considered okay to acknowledge the control tower's wind calls and clearance to land while on short final, with just 2 clicks of the mic button, is because frequently there is not enough spare brain circuitry left to compose a spoken response.

Never, ever do this... I have heard it could result in a stuck mike and that everyone may hear you singing Madona's "like a virgin" That is what I heard any way... No idea if it is true...

[benos]

PS: Coincidentally, the same issue has a bio on Buddhist scholar Robert Thurman.

I'm a big fan of Robert Thurman, anything that he has translated - especially:

The Holy Teaching of Vimalakirti: A Mahayana Scripture (translated by Robert Thurman, Pennsylvania State University Press, 2000, ISBN 0-271-01209-9)

... and of course his daughter, Uma.

[Nimitz]

This is all well and good but if it is accurate then Ultimo-hombre hit the nail on the head ... Can anyone train themselves to do this or is this something like being born with the right type of muscles to be an Olympic long distance runner vice a sprinter and no amount of training will help that...

[kevinj308]

10,000 hours of repetition. I don't think just anybody can do that. What a tremendous amount of dedication and hard work.

Somebody around here has a quote by Travis Tomasie in their sig line :" If your practice these drills for 9 hours a day for 10 years you may actually get good at them."

I think there's a lot too that. Here's a thread I found by searching for that quote http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=105450

Great thread, thanks for posting. I'm gonna go find a copy of that magazine.

Take care

Kevin

[Ultimo-Hombre]

This is all well and good but if it is accurate then Ultimo-hombre hit the nail on the head ... Can anyone train themselves to do this or is this something like being born with the right type of muscles to be an Olympic long distance runner vice a sprinter and no amount of training will help that...

A study on this is something I would really like to see!

[jeffgray1]

This is very similar to a concept known as "flow" in sports psychology. It is usually observed in elite level athletes, and there is quite a bit of research material on it if you're so inclined.

[jkrispies]

At a conference now so going from memory, but a fun book to read that covers the 10,000 hour with research is Malcolm gladwell's the tipping point. An example he gave was the Beatles who played nightly in clubs for several years; if you added up their time playing clubs plus practices, they hit the 10,000 hours before radio airplay despite their young ages. I think another excellent book that discussed this was Charles duhrig's (sp?) the power of habit.

As far as being able to train yourself, I would think it's possible for anybody to learn the mental aspect as long as they have an open mind and the proper self-control and motivation. Now, being able to combo that into an elite level sports activity may require some physical gifts that were born with in order to perform the physical tasks.

[kevinj308]

I think that was in "Outliers", also by Gladwell. Both good reads.

[jkrispies]

It might have been outliers! I think he actually mentioned it in two books but one went into much more depth.

Edited July 31, 2013 by jkrispies

[Sorpe]

^{It was Outliers--a very good book. Another interesting book is Why Michael [Jordan] Couldn't Hit referring to Michael Jordan not being able to transition from pro basketball to pro baseball. It's been a long time since I read the book but my memory is the author was suggesting that there are certain times, typically in our formative years, when we have to be doing the activity we want to be world-class in (shooting, playing the violin, whatever) in order to lay down the neural pathways required to reach the elite of the elite. But that doesn't mean you can't be excellent, just not the best of the best. For example, to be a true violin virtuoso, a person needs to start learning the violin at an early age like five. But excellence can be achieved any time at any age provided you put in the hours, etc.}

^{I started shooting at age 54 and shot my first competition on my 55th birthday. In the nearly one year since then, I have made great improvements despite (or because of ) my age. I do love it when I outshoot the 20 year olds at competitions! For me, it's not a question of are you born with an elite ability or is it something you can learn; for me it's about that inner feeling that I can get better that drives me forward. Where I end up hardly matters. As Cervantes said, "The journey is better than the inn."}

^{Edited to increase font size.}

Edited August 1, 2013 by Sorpe

[jkrispies]

Thanks for the book title-- I will check it out. I've heard of brain studies which have shown that the left and right sides of the brain are relatively "disconnected" from each other, EXCEPT amongst people who learned how to play a musical instrument at a young age. In those folks there is a very distinct bridge that connects the two halves to one another. What's interesting is that the bridge remains even if the individual stops playing the instrument. Your comment above makes me wonder if the same would be true for a young athlete or dancer since (it seems to me) that they're doing the same thing relative to thought process and body movement. (On a side note, I once read a study that showed that fighter pilot brain waves most closely resemble those of dancers than any other profession, so the connection of athletes to artists is not too far out there.). If this is true, then it begs the question of whether or not a person who developed this bridge has an insurmountable advantage over a person who doesn't have a bridge... Or if the bridge is trivial... Or if a non-bridged brain can simply do a work-around if introduced to new tasks, since the brain is amazingly adept at doing that as well.

Edited August 2, 2013 by jkrispies

[tigerkf]

Everyone has the ability to go into fight or flight mode. Doing the right thing while in that mode shows you've spent enough time training for that situation. Being able to switch back and forth from conscious thought to unconscious thought (fight or flight) makes you elite. An example of this for me comes from training in martial arts for a number of years. While responding for things I've trained for, I can resort to unconscious thought. If during this time something comes up I haven't trained for, I switch back to conscious thought and formulate a solution. I then switch back to unconscious thought and execute that solution. A champion Grandmaster does the same thing when something they didn't train for happens during a course.

[amlamarra]

Someone at our match yesterday was quoting one of the recent studies that states there is no such thing as multi-tasking. True, at a conscious thought level, there is only task-shifting. But with learned-response training & experience, many things can be done at once at a subconscious level. Best proof of this for me was learning to land an airplane in a gusting, shearing crosswind. Lots of things all come together in one place at one time to pull that off. The reason it is considered okay to acknowledge the control tower's wind calls and clearance to land while on short final, with just 2 clicks of the mic button, is because frequently there is not enough spare brain circuitry left to compose a spoken response.

To go a bit further down this rabbit hole...

A professional pilot with thousands of hours in type has no problem reading back a landing clearance in difficult landing conditions ( it is in fact required by the FAR's. not doing so at a class B airport will have you in serious hot water!) again the control inputs required occur without any conscious thought, but the lower time pilot is often at task saturation during that same landing... Add that radio call to his task saturated mind and things fall apart.

Perhaps the very skilled shooter can tolerate some thought distractions in much the same way, because watching the sights and trigger control happen correctly without conscious thought.

When I was getting my PPL, I was so focused on landing during my first solo flight that after I got off the runway, I realized that I was hungry, had to pee & my jaws were sore from clenching my teeth. I've never experienced that level of concentration on a single task in my entire life. God how I wish I had the money to keep flying.

[jkrispies]

I'm on the verge of finishing Why Michael Couldn't Hit mentioned above, and it's a great book. Gladly recommend it to others!

[enroute]

Watch the old motorcycle racing/riding classic "On Any Sunday", and see American Kenny Roberts.

King Kenny openly talked about his visualization skills which put him on the podiums for years. Sure, many years of riding/racing are very important, but then you realize something which is transferable to most sports: I have SEEN the course and can use those skills to change my past outcomes into new ones which are victories.

Now, part of that package is ignoring the mental limitations/handicaps others will present, and no offense but in reading this thread you will find several such hurdles already presented which tell you ...." the only way you CAN succeed is with Wxy qualifiers..."

Watch Kenny Roberts go from flat-track racing in the USA dirt, to Moto-GP road racing in Europe, and win that Championship in his rookie year; the Europeans were so entrenched in their obstacle-thought that they would not pay him the purse money won. In effect telling him "You can't do this!" And, guess what? If you listen to what other people tell you about failure, or THEIR perceived qualifiers for success (10K hours?!), you WILL fail or not even try.

[benos]

Watch the old motorcycle racing/riding classic "On Any Sunday", and see American Kenny Roberts.

That was an awesome movie. Just added it to my Netflx que.

[cheezdog]

I wanted to be a great 22 rifle shooter to compete in the Chevy Truck Sportsmans Team Challenge. Most of you probably never heard of it. I shot 350,000 rounds in two years