In the heat of competition athletes face myriad demands. Dr. Vincent Walsh tells us, “If one considers the challenges that elite sport performance presents to the brain, it is difficult to think of any human activity that places more demands on the brain (with the possible exception of combat Soldier).” Competition requires athletes to meet extreme mental and physical demands simultaneously. Athletes need to train the mind and body together. Yet, too often, the mind and body are trained separately.
The Old Way to Train: Mind & Body Separately
Training athletes used to look like an assembly line of exercises. A practice outline looked like this:
- Film Study
- Warm-up
- Skill 1 Repetitions
- Skill 2 Repetitions
- Skill 3 Repetitions
- Scenario 1 Repetitions
- Scenario 2 Repetitions
- Scrimmage
- Strength Training
- Conditioning
The focus was on repetition of specific skills over and over again. For example, after completing 20 repetitions of throwing ground balls to first base, they did 20 repetitions of throwing to second base. This is a simplified example of course, but you get the point. While this approach developed sport skills more quickly, those skills did not transfer well to competition.
Practice was simple and repetitive. Competition was chaotic and variable. Notice the mismatch.
The New Way to Train: Mind & Body Together
I recently worked with a high performance organization in which training time was limited – as it is for almost every sports organization I know of. The mission was to improve physical strength, cardiovascular fitness, and cognitive performance under stress, and avoid injuries in the process.
I’m sure this sounds familiar.
To combat the constraints on time and still meet our objectives, our team employed a more modern approach to athlete training.
Building on previous articles on Athlete Cognition (How Athletes See, Decide, and Execute), I worked collaboratively with our strength staff to integrate neurocognitive performance training into physical training blocks (more on that in a future post).
We designed training sessions to elicit physical and cognitive adaptation to demands (stressors) that mimic the real-world performance environment.
In training we taxed physical and cognitive systems simultaneously. Competition also taxes both systems simultaneously. We created alignment in how athletes trained and competed.
The military has a mantra for this: “Train like we fight.”
Align cognitive training in practice with the cognitive demands athletes face in competition.
TweetWhy The New Way is Better:
- We know that athlete decision-making suffers when athletes are fatigued. Many late game mistakes happen because athletes aren’t mentally conditioned for high cognitive demand when fatigued.
- We know that fatigue and endurance are significantly influenced by cognitive fatigue. When athletes are more mentally depleted, they slow down or quit sooner.
- We know that training the mind and body together increases transfer of skills and strategy to the competition surface.
Practical Recommendations
To help you incorporate a more modern approach to athletic performance training, here are a few recommendations:
1. Shrink the court, field, or ice.
Sometimes referred to as small-sided games, these competitive drills force athletes to operate in tighter spaces, make quicker decisions, and react faster than in a normal competition.
2. Include conditioning within practice drills.
Rather than running lines or using a separate conditioning block, build conditioning into skill-based or competitive drills.
3. Incorporate cognitive exercises into strength training sessions.
Cognitive performance exercises can be easily integrated into training blocks for added cognitive stress. Utilize exercises that focus on visual processing, decision making, and reaction time to mimic competition demands.
Free Consultation
Do you or your organization need help training mind and body together? Schedule a free 30 minute call.
We can work together to build a custom program that works for you and your athletes. Schedule your call today so you can lead the pack and not get left behind by the competition.
Help Athletes Train Like They Compete
The word is out that variability in practice helps athletes be better prepared to execute in competition. However, what many training approaches still lack (even at elite levels) is the integration of neurocognitive training. Ultimately, athletic performance relies on an athlete’s ability to see, decide, and execute under pressure. If those are the demands of competition, then athletes need to train like they compete – mind and body together.
Question: What questions do you have about incorporating cognitive training into your on and off field drills? I’d love to hear from you in the comments below, or on Facebook or Twitter.
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