Hall of Fame pitcher Warren Spahn never studied biomechanics or
captured 3D motion capture of the batters he faced, but he knew a lot
about the science of strikeouts. “Hitting is timing. Pitching is
upsetting timing,” Spahn stated decades ago. “”A pitcher needs two
pitches, one they’re looking for and one to cross them up.” After all of
these years, ASMI biomechanist Dave Fortenbaugh has put this theory to the test in his lab.
With less than a second to see the pitch, identify its speed and
location then execute an intercepting swing of the bat, a baseball
player’s margin of error can be milliseconds or millimeters. Since most
of the bat speed and power of the swing comes from the weight transfer
and rotational speed of the hitter’s body, it is critical that the
entire process starts at just the right time so that bat connects with
the ball in the perfect horizontal and vertical planes.
Sports Are 80 Percent Mental
Understanding How Your Brain Plays Sports
May 17, 2012
Apr 25, 2012
NBA Fans Hurt Their Home Team's Free Throws
By
Dan Peterson
Ask any NBA player or coach where they would prefer to play a high
stakes game, home or away, and the vast majority will choose being in
the friendly confines of their home arena. Overall, the win-loss
records of most teams would support that, but they would do even better
if they taught their home fans a lesson in performance psychology.
When it comes to sports skills, research has shown that we’re better off to just do it rather than consciously thinking about the mechanics of each sub-component of the move. Waiting for a pitch, standing over a putt or stepping up to the free throw line gives our brains too much opportunity to start breaking down the task. Add competitive pressure brought on by a close game watched by a loyal home fans and we can easily slip out of the well-practiced mental map, known as automaticity, that usually gets the job done.
But what about elite athletes who are the best in the game? Surely, they’ve found ways to handle pressure and keep their brains on auto-pilot without getting an online psychology degree? Actually no, says researchers Matt Goldman and Justin Rao. In a study presented at the recent Sloan Sports Analytics Conference, they revealed an interesting paradox; playing in front of a home crowd can be both a benefit and a curse for NBA players.
When it comes to sports skills, research has shown that we’re better off to just do it rather than consciously thinking about the mechanics of each sub-component of the move. Waiting for a pitch, standing over a putt or stepping up to the free throw line gives our brains too much opportunity to start breaking down the task. Add competitive pressure brought on by a close game watched by a loyal home fans and we can easily slip out of the well-practiced mental map, known as automaticity, that usually gets the job done.
But what about elite athletes who are the best in the game? Surely, they’ve found ways to handle pressure and keep their brains on auto-pilot without getting an online psychology degree? Actually no, says researchers Matt Goldman and Justin Rao. In a study presented at the recent Sloan Sports Analytics Conference, they revealed an interesting paradox; playing in front of a home crowd can be both a benefit and a curse for NBA players.
Apr 7, 2012
A Better Way To Evaluate NFL QB Draft Prospects?
By
Dan Peterson
![]() |
| Andrew Luck - Robert Griffin III |
Although he struggled with the next question, “What is the ninth month of the year?”, his overall Wonderlic cognitive ability test came back with an above average score, giving the assumption he has the smarts to play professional football.
It sounds absurd, but every year when top college football QBs get together for the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, we start hearing about and comparing their scores on the infamous Wonderlic test. While they are also asked to run fast, lift heavy objects, jump high and throw every conceivable type of pass, their most important skill, the ability to recognize patterns and make decisions, is measured in 12 minutes by 50 multiple choice questions.
Mar 31, 2012
Daniel Wolpert On Why You Have A Brain
By
Dan Peterson
Daniel Wolpert is absolutely certain about one thing. “We have a
brain for one reason and one reason only, and that’s to produce
adaptable and complex movements,” stated Wolpert, Director of the Computational and Biological Learning Lab
at the University of Cambridge. “Movement is the only way you have of
affecting the world around you.” After that assertive opening to his 2011 TED Talk,
he reported that, despite this important purpose, we have a long way to
go in understanding of how exactly the brain controls our movements.
The evidence for this is in how well we’ve learned to mimic our
movements using computers and robots. For example, take the game of
chess. Since the late 1990s, computer software has been playing
competitive matches and beating human master players by using programmed
tactics and sheer computing power to analyze possible moves. However,
Wolpert points out that a five-year-old child can outperform the best
robot in actually moving chess pieces around the board.
From a sports context, think of a baseball batter at the plate trying to hit a fastball. It seems intuitive to watch the ball, time the start of the swing, position the bat at the right height to intercept the ball and send it deep. So, why is hitting a baseball one of the most difficult tasks in sports? Why can’t we perform more consistently?
![]() |
| Daniel Wolpert |
From a sports context, think of a baseball batter at the plate trying to hit a fastball. It seems intuitive to watch the ball, time the start of the swing, position the bat at the right height to intercept the ball and send it deep. So, why is hitting a baseball one of the most difficult tasks in sports? Why can’t we perform more consistently?
Jan 22, 2012
Michel Bruyninckx Trains Soccer Brains
By
Dan Peterson
![]() |
| Michel Bruyninckx |
We’re not talking about dribbling around orange cones here. Bruyninckx’s approach, which he dubs “brain centered learning” borrows heavily from the constructivist theory of education that involves a total immersion of the student in the learning activity.
In fact, there are three components to the related concept of “brain based” teaching:
- Orchestra immersion – the idea that the student must be thrown into the pool of the learning experience so that they are fully immersed in the experience.
- Relaxed alertness – a way of providing a challenging environment for the student but not have them stressed out by the chance of error.
- Active processing – the means by which a student can constantly process information in different ways so that it is ingrained in his neural pathways, allowing them to consolidate and internalize the new material.
Dec 13, 2011
"Quiet Eye" Can Help A Surgeon's Patients And Golf Game
By
Dan Peterson
Surgeons now have a really good excuse to be out on the golf course.
Researchers have shown that the same training technique that will
improve their putting can also improve their operating skills. Dr
Samuel Vine and Dr Mark Wilson, from Sport and Health Sciences at the
University of Exeter, tested both elite golfers and surgical residents
in two separate experiments using the gaze control technique known as
the “Quiet Eye.”First, they divided 22 elite golfers, (handicaps less than 6), into two groups after their baseline putting performance was measured. The control group received no additional training while the experimental group participated in Quiet Eye (QE) training, a method first developed by Dr. Joan Vickers of the University of Calgary. They were instructed to follow these steps:
1. Assume your stance and align the club so your gaze is on the back of the ball.
2. After setting up over the ball, fix your gaze on the hole. Fixations toward the hole should be made no more than 3 times.
3. The final fixation should be a QE on the back of the ball. The onset of the QE should occur before the stroke begins and last for 2 to 3 seconds.
4. No gaze should be directed to the clubhead during the backswing or foreswing.
5. The QE should remain on the green for 200 to 300 ms after the club contacts the ball.
While several earlier studies have shown the effectiveness of using QE in lab-based putting experiments, Vine and Wilson wanted to add two additional tests. Would the golfers not only putt better in the lab, but also retain that performance under induced stress and in real world, golf course conditions?
The stress was added by telling the golfers that they were playing for a $50 prize as well as having their final scores posted at their home golf courses. Even though the two groups showed no difference at the pre-training baseline testing, the QE group had significantly better putting scores than the control group in all three scenarios, including a decrease of two putts per round.
So, QE will help a surgeon on the green but what about in the operating room? Knowing the positive results that athletes have seen, Vine and Wilson wondered if gaze control could help other professions, especially medicine. Working in collaboration with the University of Hong Kong, the Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust and the Horizon training centre Torbay, the University of Exeter team brought thirty medical students together to find out....
Please click to continue reading at our partner, AxonPotential.com
Dec 1, 2011
Is This How Barcelona's Xavi Makes Decisions?
By
Dan Peterson
When Xavi Hernandez receives the soccer ball in his offensive half
of the field, the Barcelona maestro has a world of decisions waiting
for him. Hold the ball while his teammates arrive, make the quick
through pass to a slicing Lionel Messi or move into position for a
shot.
The question that decision researchers want to know is whether Xavi’s brain makes a choice based on the desired outcome (wait, pass or shoot) or the action necessary to achieve that goal. Then, could his attitude towards improvement actually change his decision making ability?
Traditionally, the decision process was seen as consecutive steps; first choose what it is you want then choose an action to get you there. However, a recent study from the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital at McGill University tells us that the brain uses two separate regions for these choices and that they are independent of each other.
The question that decision researchers want to know is whether Xavi’s brain makes a choice based on the desired outcome (wait, pass or shoot) or the action necessary to achieve that goal. Then, could his attitude towards improvement actually change his decision making ability?
Traditionally, the decision process was seen as consecutive steps; first choose what it is you want then choose an action to get you there. However, a recent study from the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital at McGill University tells us that the brain uses two separate regions for these choices and that they are independent of each other.
Nov 6, 2011
Aaron Rodgers, Working Memory and 10,000 Hours Of Practice
By
Dan Peterson
After a great Aaron Rodgers performance, you will usually hear at
least one of two phrases uttered by post-game football analysts, “he
has a great ability to see the field,” or “the game has really slowed
down for him.”
Assuming the Packers’ quarterback does not have super-human vision or a time machine, these comments must refer to his ability to recognize opposing defensive formations, adjust quickly to their movements and pick out an open receiver. It is a skill that all young players would like to have and their coaches would like to teach.
Of course, the ongoing debate in the sports world is if great perceptual awareness and quick decision making are gifts you’re born with or ones you can develop with practice. The extreme ends of that continuum seem illogical, that a player can excel with no practice or that anyone who practices enough can be a superstar. Instead, the discussion has turned to the gray area in between looking for the right combination and the direction of causation between the two.
At the center of the debate for the last 20 years, Florida State psychology professor K. Anders Ericsson has held to a theory that enough deliberate practice, described as a focused activity meant to improve a specific skill, can make up for or even circumvent the lack of general, innate abilities. His research has shown that about 10,000 hours of practice is the minimum required to rise to an expert level of most knowledge domains, including sports.
Now, in a new study published in Current Directions of Psychological Science, psychologists David Z. Hambrick of Michigan State University and Elizabeth J. Meinz of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville examined this interplay between basic abilities, like working memory capacity, and acquired knowledge learned through practice. “We have been especially interested in the question of whether various forms of domain knowledge moderate the impact of basic cognitive abilities on performance,” the authors wrote.
Working memory is used in complex tasks that require holding information in the mind while also trying to reason or comprehend the environment. Think of Rodgers remembering the pass routes of all of his receivers while processing the movements of eleven defenders around him.
Hambrick and Meinz wanted to find out if the working memory of domain experts, like Rodgers, has as much as an impact on their performance as their years of deliberate practice and learned knowledge of their specialized world. Previous research has shown that a person’s working memory capacity is strongly correlated with abstract reasoning, problem solving, decision making, language comprehension, and complex learning.
Back in 2002, Professor Hambrick tested this relationship using a baseball domain....
<Please click here to continue reading at Axon Potential>
Assuming the Packers’ quarterback does not have super-human vision or a time machine, these comments must refer to his ability to recognize opposing defensive formations, adjust quickly to their movements and pick out an open receiver. It is a skill that all young players would like to have and their coaches would like to teach.
Of course, the ongoing debate in the sports world is if great perceptual awareness and quick decision making are gifts you’re born with or ones you can develop with practice. The extreme ends of that continuum seem illogical, that a player can excel with no practice or that anyone who practices enough can be a superstar. Instead, the discussion has turned to the gray area in between looking for the right combination and the direction of causation between the two.
At the center of the debate for the last 20 years, Florida State psychology professor K. Anders Ericsson has held to a theory that enough deliberate practice, described as a focused activity meant to improve a specific skill, can make up for or even circumvent the lack of general, innate abilities. His research has shown that about 10,000 hours of practice is the minimum required to rise to an expert level of most knowledge domains, including sports.
Now, in a new study published in Current Directions of Psychological Science, psychologists David Z. Hambrick of Michigan State University and Elizabeth J. Meinz of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville examined this interplay between basic abilities, like working memory capacity, and acquired knowledge learned through practice. “We have been especially interested in the question of whether various forms of domain knowledge moderate the impact of basic cognitive abilities on performance,” the authors wrote.
Working memory is used in complex tasks that require holding information in the mind while also trying to reason or comprehend the environment. Think of Rodgers remembering the pass routes of all of his receivers while processing the movements of eleven defenders around him.
Hambrick and Meinz wanted to find out if the working memory of domain experts, like Rodgers, has as much as an impact on their performance as their years of deliberate practice and learned knowledge of their specialized world. Previous research has shown that a person’s working memory capacity is strongly correlated with abstract reasoning, problem solving, decision making, language comprehension, and complex learning.
Back in 2002, Professor Hambrick tested this relationship using a baseball domain....
<Please click here to continue reading at Axon Potential>
Oct 30, 2011
Apolo Ohno Trains His Legs And His Mind For The NYC Marathon
By
Dan Peterson
Of the roughly 45,000 brave souls who will line up for the start of
the New York City Marathon in less than two weeks, there’s a good
chance that at least a few will have doubts of crossing the finish
line. They have put in the training miles, eaten the right foods and
picked out their playlist. Yet, the biggest obstacle to a finisher’s medal is not their legs, but their brain. Like an overprotective mother, the brain not only runs the show but also decides when enough is enough. However, exercise science researchers now believe that it is possible to fool mother nature and tap into a reserve store of energy for better performance.
Somewhere in the New York masses on November 6th will be a short but determined first time marathoner who happens to have eight Olympic medals. Apolo Ohno, world champion speed skater, will be racing not only in an upright position but for a little longer than his usual 1500 meters. During his training, he has noticed the difference between the short thirty second repetitions on the ice and the long runs required for marathon endurance.
In a recent interview, he commented that after a 20 mile training run, “I was like a zombie. I couldn’t function. It was crazy. I was like, ‘What is wrong with me?’” One thing that all of his Olympic training has taught him is the power of the mind. Last week, he tweeted, “The MIND is the most undertrained asset of any athlete. It is the biggest difference between separating those who r GREAT or inconsistent.”
Matt Fitzgerald, long-time running columnist and author, agrees with Ohno. In his 2007 book Brain Training for Runners, he detailed the role of the brain in controlling our physical endurance. Traditionally, fatigue used to be considered a breakdown of biochemical balances with the build-up of lactic acid or depletion of glycogen for fuel. However, research in the 1980s showed that this breakdown did not always occur and that athletes were still able to push through at the end of a race even though they should have been physically exhausted.
Please join me at Axon Potential to read more...
Oct 17, 2011
The Next Madden Game Frontier?
By
Dan Peterson
![]() |
| (Graphic courtesy of Oregon State University) |
Certainly a tall order, even for some humans, but they've had some initial success with a small playbook of twenty passing plays.
According to the lead researcher, “This is one of the first attempts to put several systems together and let a computer see something in the visual world, study it and then learn how to control it,” said Alan Fern, an associate professor of computer science at OSU. “Football actually makes a pretty good test bed, because it’s much more complicated than you might think both visually and strategically, but also takes place in a structured setting. This makes it quite analogous to other potential applications.”
It seems the developers at EA Sports may have a head start on play selection AI, based on my poor record against the Madden gods.
Thanks for making the jump to Axon Potential to read the rest of the story.
Aug 25, 2011
College Football Scandals Stress Need For Coaching Character
By
Dan Peterson
![]() |
| Jim Tressel |
Yet, both storied football programs now find themselves in the middle of NCAA investigations for major rule violations. Reports of players trading memorabilia for cash or discounts, receiving cash and “entertainment” from boosters, and at least one of these coaches admitting to lying about their knowledge of these events has triggered a frenzy of discussion on what’s wrong with college athletics.
As head coaches often claim at their post-scandal press conferences, the buck stops with them as they have overall responsibility for the program and its players. Being in the hot seat requires a coach that can provide the balance between ultra-competitive, “win now” demands of fans and boosters and long-term development of players’ skills and character. Several recent research initiatives have looked at this unique role and how to walk that fine line
Aug 13, 2011
Lazy Person's Guide To Old Age
By
Dan Peterson
Stop eating all of that junk food. Why? So, you can live longer, of
course. Get off the La-Z-Boy and go run five miles. Why?! So, you can
enjoy your old age. No more drinking and smoking. Why?!! So, you can
live to be 100 years old.The rationale often given for converting to healthy habits has been to give you a longer life. Who better to know about long lives than those that are closing in on the big 100. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates there were nearly 425,000 people aged 95 and older living in the U.S. in 2010 − still only a small percentage of the 40 million U.S. adults 65 and over.
What’s their secret? Are they non-smoking, teetotaling, vegan marathon runners? Not exactly, according to researchers at the Institute for Aging Research at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine.
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