Peak Performance Neurofeedback Training in Sport: Shaping Concentration and Attentional Focus.

Presented at the American Psychological Association Meeting in San Francisco, CA August 28^th, 2001.

Some athletes appear to have natural ability in maintaining attentional focus and optimal concentration throughout a complex psychomotor task even when faced with high demands and multiple distractions. While repeated practice and extensive competitive experience strategies are used to develop the mental as well as physical skills, there remains considerable variation in how well athletes develop the disciplined concentration and attentional focus skills necessary to excel consistently. Recent improvements in the technology of brainwave (EEG) measurements and in neurofeedback have enabled researchers to develop new approaches to sport psychology featuring exercises designed to create optimal "flow" states ala Csikszentmihalyi. Another descriptor for this state of competitive readiness is the capability of becoming totally absorbed by a cognitive task as shown by Tellegen. The absorption scale assesses inclination to become lost in thought such that input from other senses (e.g., auditory) is diminished or sublimated. It appears that an ideal performance state exists when either or both of these conditions exists prior to and during complex psychomotor tasks.

The purpose of this workshop is to demonstrate the link between several theories of performance excellence that may have a common root in the form of a unique brainwave pattern. Demonstrations of InAllBand EEG waveform feedback together with performance challenges will be conducted in this workshop. Applications will be made to several sport venues including golf, baseball, swimming, diving, equistrian, etc. A number of psychomotor tasks including reaction time, directional speed control, and working memory capacity will be used as assessment measures of the changes associated with neurofeedback, flow states, and depth of absorption.

Peak achievement training features a simple EEG biofeedback instrument that transforms the brainwave signal into a meaningful and relevant display of the athlete's level of attentional focus. The fluctuations in wave form characteristic of brain activity appears as jagged valleys and peaks that reflects random distractions and longer periods of intense focus. The computerized graphic display can also be placed along side a video replay of action footage and then used as stimuli for recall of emotions and visualization of performance moving toward ideal outcomes.

First off, there is nothing technical or magical that will reliably put a performer into the Zone. It is an elusive state of mind/body performance that occurs infrequently and is almost never at the disposal of the person who experiences it. You can't make it happen; it just occurs spontaneously under rare circumstances usually in the context of being in a very relaxed state with relatively little physical effort (or so it seems to be effortless to the person) needed to accomplish the task.

The second problem is that the Peak Achievement Trainer is certainly not a "Coach". This term is reserved for highly skilled training specialists who rely on experience and insight as well as multiple and varied teaching techniques to inspire or cajole athletes (individually or as a team) to perform at or near their ability. Occasionally coaches are deemed capable of getting the athlete to perform above his or her ability for short periods of time.

In some cases simply watching the graphic line trace across the screen with irregular squiggles up and down reveals to the athlete his/her level of attentiveness. When the line goes up on the graph, it is generally a reflection of disturbance in concentration, i.e., being distracted by wandering thoughts or intrusion of sounds or visual cues from the surrounding area. When the line goes down on the graph, it reflects a moment of intense focus that may last only a short while or in the more skilled individuals it will vacillate up a little and return to lower as the athlete regains the intense focus.

When athletes become experienced at controlling their attentional focus very well simply by watching the screen as a reflection of current state, then it is possible to introduce more complex tasks such as reviewing the last few holes of golf played recently. I find that I can listen to the auditory signal while visualizing a particular shot and be reinforced by the sound as to the degree of single-minded focus I have in imagining clearly and without disturbance from past mistakes or future celebrations. While looking at the screen it seems to be possible to have a split focus with minimal (and occasional) attention to the line while projecting a vague scene from the golf course in the background. As such, I can alternate between the intense focus in the few seconds before, during and after the shot shifting then to a broad focus of seeing the potential trajectory of the shot and savoring the feeling of that experience in real time. The latter experience demonstrates a sense of "flexibility" athletes can develop to be able to shift from intense narrow focus to broad scanning (more relaxed awareness without concentration) and back again as needed.

At the other extreme from either being in the zone or in a flow state, we can recognize attentional deficit symptoms…. In athletes that does manifest classically as hands and legs twitching, eyes darting, rapid blinking, fumbling with play things, chewing fingernails, pacing the floors, nervous eating or lack of appetite. In addition, these athletes are constantly plagued with an inner voice emitting desperation thoughts about failure and embarassment. For an elite athlete, in this state of mind it is nearly impossible to concentrate during anticipation of competition when the greatest stress is experienced.

Measurement is the key to all advances in sport, and that measuring the intangibles like thought and feeling represents the future of athletic progress. Being able to take a bead on the structure of the mind's eye and ear may lead us to an answer as to whether we can quantify the "zone" in performance? However, the more important question is whether an athlete can be trained to allow the "zoned in" experience to appear more often; to stay with it longer and ultimately how to regain it if he/she gets distracted?

Standing in the batter's box awaiting a pitcher's 96 mph fastball with steady thoughts is nearly impossible. The realistic fear of being hit and hurt badly looms heavily on the mind. Swinging the bat is a very routine natural motion, however it requires millions of neurons in the brain to be activated instantaneously. The reaction time is in the range of 3 tenths of a second and the eye to hand coordination becomes a foggy blur and a guessing game for most baseball players. Only the very best have instincts to read early signals from the pitchers' release of the ball and to sense where and when to swing for contact. Those who succeed at it regularly, have innate composure and synchrony of thought, feeling and motion.

Some have called it being in the zone, having zen senstivity, being in the flow or having great willpower. If it is measurable it will be displayed in a new generation of EEG readouts to reach that final frontier of discovering the code or combination of physical, mental or metaphysical in achieving the perfect level of consciousness for performance.

There are some performers who naturally have a gift of consciousness for excellence. They seem to flow with artistic and athletic movements unimpeded by tension and stress. These are the rare few and they have honed this skill with practice and with ideal training conditions. Too much or too little criticism and embarrassment will destroy the sensitive balance between mind and body in control of performance.

Other the other hand, there are many roads to Rome, suggesting that many ancient and modern methods of quieting the mind have worked well in the past. It is somewhat akin to learning how to drive with only one eye open, without windows or mirrors and without speedometer or brakes. The inherent learning process is to just go and hope that it works out okay. Then some other methods of meditation, relaxation, subconscious controls (Open Focus) have allowed some trained participants to gradually smooth out the control of the vehicle. More recently, the PAT has come along with other EEG feedback devices to provide a shaping device for the conscious mind. To be able to see the hazards in the road is like being able to see the distractions immediately as they arise and to make a correction in conscious thought or feeling is the ultimate goal.

Blocking out distractions in performance is easier said than done. Keep your eye on the ball is logical and effective until you try to do it consistently. Only the most disciplined can do it time after time to achieve success. The rest of have must shape this behavior with guidance and discipline. The neurofeedback technology found in the Peak Achievement Trainer is capable making difficult attentional focus tasks easier giving us a light beam of feedback to the inner most recesses of the mind in a real time scenario. How many thoughts do you have competing with your sense of absorption right now as you are reading this material? Wouldn't it be nice to have a warning bell go off when you space off in mid-sentence? The same kind of transference into the field of competition or performance is possible with this new age technology.

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While applied psychophysiology and competitive stress management are essential components of effective performance in sport, the applications of traditional biofeedback (EMG,Temp, EDR and Heart Rate) have been limited. The demonstration of stress and tension outcomes before and during performance is extremely enlightening for athletes and coaches, however the actual use of feedback in training and competition has been only moderately useful in shaping athlete's performance toward excellence, primarily because of the obtrusiveness of equipment and sensors. Obviously the same problem exists for traditional neurofeedback, wherein the sophistication of 10-20 lead placement (with sticky EEG paste), complicated filters, multiple channel interpretation, and exotic feedback display makes it far too cumbersome for use in a competitive field setting.

However, portable, user-friendly neurofeedback has the practical advantage of being readily accessible while also providing face validity in the form of a signal that is directly related to the quality of visualization a performer may experience in preparation for competition. This training can be exceptional relevant if the client appreciates that the vividness of mental rehearsal may be enhanced with the objective confirmation of attentional focus and/or concentration. It is even more relevant to the performer if the apparatus is portable and can be utilized in the backstage or sidelines of competition wherein all the stimuli and distractions are realistic for the client to struggle with and hopefully overcome.