There is more to mental performance than visualization, productive thinking, and pre-performance routines. Although those are important, training an athlete’s cognition cycle is the next frontier. Collectively, the components of how athletes see, decide, and execute are referred to as neurocognitive skills. Advances in neuroscience and technology enable us to now train these skills to unleash athlete potential.
What are Neurocognitive Skills?
Simply put, neurocognitive skills are the underlying mechanisms that facilitate how athletes see, decide, and execute (or perform their sport skills under pressure). I’ve discussed athlete cognition in a series of previous posts. Here we’ll dive into the these supporting skills that can give athletes a significant competitive edge.
Neurocognitive skills come from two overlapping skill areas: visual skills and perceptual-cognitive skills.
Visual skills refer to the ability of an athlete to see and process information to inform their movements and reactions in sport.
Perceptual-cognitive skills refer to an athlete’s ability to locate, identify, and process environmental information in order to integrate it with current knowledge and motor abilities to select and execute appropriate actions (Marteniuk, 1976).
Together, these skill areas comprise 9 neurocognitive skills athletes should train to unleash their potential.
Dynamic Visual Acuity – the ability to track objects while either the object itself (e.g., a ball or puck) or the individual is moving (i.e, tracking the goal).
Depth Perception – the ability to determine the location and proximity of an object (i.e., ball or person) in 3-dimensional space.
Visual Search – the ability to discriminate relevant from irrelevant information.
Pattern Recognition – the ability to recognize patterns of movements or play as they emerge.
Cue Utilization – the ability to notice and adjust to early cues emanating from an opponent’s physical movements (such as footwork or shoulder rotation).
Information Processing Speed – the speed at which an athlete is able to process and interpret visual information in order to make predictions (e.g., situational probabilities) and motor responses on the court, field, or ice.
Anticipation Timing – the ability to predict where an object (or person) will be at a future point in time (such as where a player will be to receive a pass).
Situational Probabilities – the ability to utilize sensory information (including patterns and cues mentioned above), along with current knowledge and working memory, to generate accurate predictions about what others are likely to do in a given situation.
Eye-Hand Coordination – the ability to coordinate visual and motor abilities to interact effectively within the sport context (i.e., throw, kick, catch, hit, intercept, etc.).
Collectively, these skills support an athlete’s perception and decision making on the competition surface. Training these neurocognitive skills also accounts for a large portion of improvements in both reaction time and accurate and efficient skill execution in competition (Dudman & Krakauer, 2016).
Note that this list is not exhaustive. There are additional underlying elements and numerous cognitive skills involved in skilled athlete performance.
Why Should Athletes Train these 9 Neurocognitive Skills?
Research has shown that training neurocognitive skills results in a number of benefits that give athletes a clear competitive edge. This is why I refer to neurocognitive training as the next frontier in mental performance.
Neurocognitive skills training improves:
- Eye-hand coordination, catching, balance, and sport-specific dribbling
- Quality of contact, visual reaction & recognition times
- Anticipation and decision-making
- Reaction time and skill execution
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Introduce Your Athletes to Neurocognitive Training
Athletes who train the underlying mechanisms to cognition (see, decide, execute) have a clear advantage over those who don’t. Introduce your athletes to neurocognitive training by targeting these 9 fundamental skills that improve athlete performance.
Question: Which neurocognitive skills would make the biggest difference in your sport?I’d love to hear from you in the comments below, or on Facebook or Twitter.
Additional Links:
- The Next Frontier in Mental Performance Training
- Training Athlete Cognition: 3 Ways to Improve How Athletes See the Field
- Training Athlete Cognition: 4 Ways to Improve Athlete Decision Making
- Training Athlete Cognition: How to Help Athletes Execute On Demand
- 3 Ways Training the Mind and Body Together Improves Athlete Performance
- 3 Ways to Integrate Neurocognitive Skills Into Strength Training