Sportsperson's Performance Linked to state of their brain

Success or failure of a sportsman could be determined through the alphas and gammas inside his brain. This discovery has come to light through an ongoing brain mapping study conducted by a group of post graduate students of Nanavati Hospital in Vile Parle. The study states that these zones in the brain can largely have an effect on the performance of a sportsman irrespective of the type of sport.

For the purpose of the study, about 45 sportsmen — cricketers, footballers, hockey players and karate players — from national and international level have been examined. These players are patients who visit the hospital for physiotherapy sessions.
“Whenever a sportsman performed well, his brain was found in the alpha zone, which ensures optimum performance. When the players performed bad or were injured, we found out that the brain was in the gamma zone,” said Dr Ali Irani, head, department of physiotherapy and sports medicine, Nanavati Hospital. Irani, a former physiotherapist with the Indian cricket team, is heading the study.

“There have been times when a player has been blamed for bad performance and sudden injuries. But, our findings show that it largely has to do with the state of his brain,” added Irani.

The brains alpha zone is a state when an individual has the ideal functioning capability and can give his best performance in anything he is doing. Alpha zone ranges from 8-12 hertz. Gamma zone, which ranges from 30 hertz and above, has been associated with extreme stress levels when optimum performance cannot be achieved.
The procedure of studying a player involves attaching three electrodes to the sportsman’s forehead. The electrodes are connected to preloaded software in an Apple Macbook, which records the zone of the patient’s brain.

One of the examples from the study was that of a footballer, who plays for an airline team. The study showed that the footballer was in the state of alpha when he was asked to recollect his best played games. While under stress, or when asked to think about his bad performances, the player’s brain was in the gamma zone.

However, according to Irani, only knowing the zones of the brain is not enough. “We are trying to actually use brain mapping as a modality for treatment or as a diagnostic tool,” said Irani, adding that after recording the zones, the players were given alpha therapy and relaxation exercises.
Alpha therapy involves listening to a 14 minute music track with bi-neural frequency, which lowers the brain frequency and gets it to the alpha zone. The relaxation techniques involve focused breathing, practising optimism, etc. “The players were got in the alpha zone during the game and they performed extremely well,” said Irani.

Other than sportsmen, the students are also conducting studies on cardiac and neurology patients. While Irani has already introduced the ongoing study at two international conferences, it will take another year for the study to be completed.

By Jyoti Shelar

Mental Imagery in Sport and Life - Kinesiology part 111

The ability to form mental images of things or events

By repeatedly calling up images in your mind and rewiring the circuits of your mind toward a realization of those images. The remarkable feature of imagery work is that it can be accompanied by physiological changes.

Experience that resembles perceptual experience, but which occurs in the absence of the appropriate stimuli for the relevant perception.

Involves focusing your mind to visualize yourself in a certain situation and doing well in that situation.
A cognitive psychological skill in which the athlete uses all the senses to create a mental experience of an athletic performance

There’s nothing mystical about mental imagery. Simply put, it’s a visualization exercise that helps not only athletes but anyone who desires increased success and performance. There’s multiple ways to practice it and it can be done in short spurts or for a long duration.

How Mental Imagery Works

When an athlete imagines himself performing to perfection, he is physiologically creating neutral brain patterns that are similar to small tracks engraved in the brain cells. This enables the athlete to perform athletic tasks by mentally practicing those tasks first in his mind. Mental imagery is intended to train the athletes’ mind, thus teaching the muscles to perform exactly how he wants them to perform.

Practical Application of Mental Imagery

It’s true that we move closer to what we focus on. If an athlete imagines missing a shot, or how good the other team is, or even fears injury, it harms his game concentration and affects the outcome. It’s absolutely essential that athletes visualize success and victory.  Steven Balzac, a psychology professor and former nationally ranked fencer says, “If we imagine success, we prepare ourselves for success because that’s what’s in our heads.”

It’s important to remember that athletes use imagery in different ways. Their imagery may not involve just visual images, but sounds, smells or touch. It really depends on the person. Another important aspect of mental imagery is for the athlete to watch and study his sports heroes and imagine that he is making those same shots with precision. Does this mean the athlete will always perform at top level? No…we’re human and we all have bad days on occasion. But visualization and mental imagery increases the chance of increased and sustained success.

Results of Mental Imagery

Of course physical practice is always the best way for an athlete to improve his skill level and race to the top of his game. However, mental imagery is better than no practice at all and, incorporated with physical practice, is the best way to see optimal results.

Continuous studies are always being conducted to determine just how much mental imagery plays into the increased success of athletes. And, for the rest of us, imagining ourselves more successful is never a waste of time if we are also spending equal or more time physically developing our skill set. The time spent in mental imagery is beneficial not only to the athlete but to the business person, the student, the entrepreneur, and anyone else who desires to develop and increase their level of play.

The more mental imagery is studied; more effective techniques can be developed and adapted by athletes…and the rest of us.

 original article by Michelle Hill

Reputation is What You are Perceived to be Character is what YOU are

This blog is dedicated to my grandson Baye ... there are no words that could better describe what being a teacher, coach and success really means.

Baye, may you one day on your journey through this thing called life watch this video by John Wooden and may you one day be blessed with a teacher/coach such as John.

Reputation is what YOU are perceived to be. Your character is what YOU are. Coaching for people not for points.

How Can Mastery Help?

“How can Mastery help?”


The first part of Mastery is coming in total contact with that which one is. In seeing yourself for what you are you will begin to realize that even that which you have accepted as yourself is just a creation; your self is just beliefs that you have accepted and the conditioning society has given you. You are something far beyond this self, but this is only for the one who has come to know. Mastery will help you simply because you achieve that which is within your grasp, that which is within the spectrum of the self or the real self. In Mastery, as you shift or change the boundary of yourself you also change the boundary of your reality and your achievement. If you actually believe that you can make a million dollars and it is within your spectrum of realness, then it is done. The fact that I have seen is that when it is within your spectrum of realness the universe supports it. Let me emphasize it again, within your spectrum of your realness, that which makes you, you; it is not pretending to believe, but actually believing it and accepting it as a fact.

In Mastery you learn just how to do this.

Master Dhyan Vimal