Brain Management

BOSSY BRAIN

The brain is: – the boss who is always with you – the boss who really runs the show – your show – our show – everybody’s show. Our brains are machines without an ‘off’ switch. They go on and on, running our lives and determining all our experiences. A bit like computers, brains don’t always do what we want; they do what they are told. Most of the time, we don’t even know we’ve given the orders. We think about any experience by representing it in our minds, mainly through pictures, but also through sounds and feelings. We allow our brains to show us any pictures they want. Good pictures make us feel good. Bad pictures make us feel bad. If we don’t pay attention and deliberately write our own script, our brains will carry on heedlessly according to other programming. Somebody else will always be there ready, to run our lives (our brains). (Think of the early conditioning we got when we were children). And they might not always have our best interests at heart.

Even the scientists’ understanding of the human brain is still superficial. They have however discovered that it is our brain’s massively complicated ‘wiring system’ that makes human beings special. Every second, human neurons are forming millions of connections enabling us to think.

Fascinating experiments using electromyography have produced images, which clearly demonstrate that our brains send the same instruction signals during mental training as they do in physical training. They open pathways, which allow messages required for particular skill development, to pass quickly and easily from the brain to the muscles.

These discoveries promise huge benefits to all players, athletes and competitors keen to excel in their field.

MENTAL REHEARSAL, (where you remember some skilful move, and relive it in minute detail it in your mind), allows you to reproduce, repeat and project the perfect practice session over and over again without any physical strain. This concentrated repetition has also been shown to improve focus.

FOCUS is what separates champions from the rest.
We all know it; champions are different. At key moments - match point - penalty kick - championship putt, they raise their game. Champions behave differently from others and studies have shown that their brains behave differently. The others allow themselves to be distracted. Lights are flashing all over their brains. These lights indicate that they might be thinking such things as:

By contrast very few lights are switched on in the brains of champions. The champions are ice cool and decisive during those key moments. They think only of how to make the shot. They are able to switch off their emotions and concentrate for a few vital seconds to make the shot, before they relax and enjoy the celebrations.

Learn how to control your own brain to improve your game.