The Winner Within: Coaching You To Get in the Zone

By Wes Sime

Recently the New York Times published an article titled "The Winner Within" with a catchy subtitle 'The Coach who will put you in the Zone'. First off, there is nothing technical or magical that will put a football player into the Zone. It is an elusive state of mind/body performance that occurs infrequently and never at the disposal of the player who experiences it. Michael Jordan often said that when he was really on to his game - - It just happened and he could not miss. However, even the great players can't make it happen; it just occurs spontaneously under rare circumstances usually in the context of being in a very relaxed state and it seems to produce effortless, yet powerful, sweet swings and solid hits.

The coaches in this game of football are highly skilled training specialists who rely on experience and insight to inspire or cajole players to perform at or near their ability. Occasionally these coaches are able to get some players to perform above their ability. That is the goal of every coach, manager and general manager. But ultimately you, the player, are responsible for getting the most out of your skills.

There are some football players who naturally have a gift for excellence. They seem to flow with tremendous 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

It is very difficult to be a quarterback standing in the pocket waiting for a receiver to come open knowing you will eventually get hit hard; that it will really hurt; and that you could become injured. To stay relaxed with steady thoughts is nearly impossible under these conditions is nearly impossible, but you still have to do it. The realistic fear of being hit and hurt badly looms heavily on the mind. Throwing a pass is a very routine natural motion, however it requires millions of neurons in the brain to be activated instantaneously. The reaction time you must have 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 quarterbacks who have felt the pressure. Only the very best have instincts to read early signals from the defense and to sense where and when to throw for a completion and for protection. Those who succeed at it regularly, have innate composure and synchrony of thought, feeling and motion.

When great players perform well, we have called it being in the "zone", being in the "flow" state 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.

The New York Times article described some new technology called the Peak Achievement Trainer which is simply an EEG biofeedback device (commonly referred to as neurofeedback) that transforms the brainwave signal into a meaningful and relevant display of the player's current or immediate level of attentional focus. The goal is to get the quarterback to be totally absorbed in a single focus of attention, i.e., the defensive scheme, while quickly shifting to the routes of the receivers and the quality of the blocking as needed.

In football it is very difficult to avoid momentary disturbances in concentration, i.e., being distracted by crowd noise, thoughts about interceptions, past mistakes, or future victories, big contract disputes, etc. Some of the great players are so confident that they never worry about stats/numbers etc. However, most players have a difficult time staying completely focused on the task at hand:

See the receiver - - fire the ball on instinct.

Of course, it is easy to do in practice and much more difficult in game situations.

The New York Times article suggested that measurement is the key to all advances in sport, and that measuring the intangibles like thought and feeling represents the future of progress in sports like football. Being able to take a bead on the structure of the mind's eye and ear may lead us to the answer: Can we quantify the skill needed to "get into the zone" in on the football field? However, the more important question is whether the quarterback 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 gets distracted?

The technology is available; the question is whether you will step forward to be one of the first to pioneer the effort as a quarterback. We want you to condition your mental state just like you shape your strength and power physically in the weight room. Taking your brain to the gym is the best way to describe Peak Achievement Training. The system and the training techniques are currently available and used by a number of major league ball players, a few Olympic athletes, but you are the first professional football player to have this opportunity.

Wes Sime

402/472-1161