The Peak Performance Expert

In my last post I wrote about a group of musicians who will be traveling to a place overseas that most have never seen.  It was this unfamiliarity that caused some of the performers a bit of anxiety. 

We humans do like familiarity – especially when we have to perform in high stakes situations such as competitions. But we often must perform in unfamiliar territory and deal with less than ideal situations such as lousy sound systems, crummy lighting, faulty technology, noisy crowds and perhaps foreign languages. 

So – what do you do?  Read the rest of this entry »

In my last post, I wrote about Simulation Training. Olympic athletes use this technique with great success.  For the non-athlete, this can require a fairly elaborate set-up but the results make the time spent setting it up well worth it. 

Another way to simulate training is to use imagery or mental rehearsal. In this instance, you use your mind’s eye to “see” yourself  in your performance space.  If you do not know what your performance space is like, do you best to imagine what it will be like.  You can always imagine an audience, a lectern or table, slides, and so forth.

The first step  Read the rest of this entry »

The transformative power of imagery or visualization is well known by sport psychologists and by successful athletes.  It is one of the tools that can enable you to create the brain you want. 

Yes, that’s right.  It is possible to systematically create the kind of brain you want – a brain that will stay focused on what you want to focus on and not get rattled by distraction; a brain that will be reflective and responsive and not impulsively reactive. Sound good?  (You’ll be hearing much more on this topic as time goes on…) Read the rest of this entry »

Mental preparation is often overlooked when people prepare for that big presentation, court date, or interview.   

If you would like to enjoy similar success as Olympic athletes, the first step, as mentioned in my previous post is to establish clear daily goals. 

The second step is to include imagery training in order to: Read the rest of this entry »

You might think that picturing a Big Mac would lead you to hop in your car and head for the nearest McDonalds.  It turns out that may not be true if you not only picture the hamburger but also visualize yourself consuming it. 

Some call it the “imagination Diet” because the idea is to eat as much of what you want…in your imagination.  Read the rest of this entry »

First it was Red Sox shortstop Julio Lugo, then, at the very end, it was pitcher Javier Lopez.  They each committed a cardinal sin in baseball: they didn’t keep their eyes on the ball.  In just that split second when each looked away from the ball, the ball got away from them. 

For the rest of us, the term – keep your eye on the ball – serves as metaphor but there’s nothing like a real life example to demonstrate the wisdom of this old adage.  And it’s becoming increasingly difficult to stay focused on the one thing we should focus on since there are innumerable temptations and distractions such as ringing cell phones, email, the internet, and bad music that seems to be piped in everywhere. 

Of course we can train our brains to focus more effectively but that takes time and effort and many of us are “too busy” (i.e, too distracted) to do so! 

For those of you who may be interested, here’s a quick technique to help you quickly remove distractions and  refocus: 

• Close your eyes and exhale slowly, real slowly.
• Now say to yourself, “I’m going to turn my mind off.”
• Now “see” with your mind’s eye, a blank computer screen.
• Relax your jaw  and tongue (we hold a lot of tension there).
• And be still for 10 – 20 seconds.
• Now open your eyes.
• Direct your energy to your task at hand.

We in Red Sox Nation are looking forward to the return of power slugger, David Ortiz, this weekend.  Big Papi, who was on the disabled list due to a torn tendon sheath in his left wrist, will be on hand to help the Sox play their arch rivals – the Yankees – at Fenway.

It’s not unusual for athletes to get injured and get rehab but what most athletes do during rehab is quite different from what mere mortals might do.  Typically, while athletes are on the disabled list they continue their practice routines.  Now that may surprise you.  How can they do that if they’re laid up?  Well, they do it mentally!

Yep, that’s right, injured athletes spend time visualizing themselves going through their practice routines.  They don’t just think about it, they set aside quiet time and visualize themselves and feel themselves going through every aspect of their practice routines. And they do this over and over until they feel they’ve gotten a good workout. Research shows that those athletes who engage in rehab visualization return to the game in a much better status and are able to get back up to speed much more quickly than those who do not employ visualization.

How can this be?  The brain cannot distinguish the difference between an imagined and an actual performance situation; to the brain it is all performance.  Plus, each time the athlete sees him or herself pitching the ball or shooting the arrow, neural pathways are deepened and strengthened.

One study was conducted with a skier who was connected to various electrodes which measured what muscles were used at what time while he was skiing down a slalom course.  The researchers then had the skier come to a lab where they again stuck electrodes all over him only this time he was asked to close his eyes and imagine himself going down that same course.  He was told not to move his body, only visualize.  Well, the exact same muscles fired at the exact same time during both situations, albeit at a much reduced rate in the lab situation but we see the power of visualization.

This works for non-athletes as well.  A famous Asian concert pianist was imprisoned as a political dissident for years.  Each day she would visualize herself playing the piano.  Finally she was released from prison and was asked to perform in a concert.  She did so within days of being released and performed flawlessly.  The audience was amazed…how did she do it, not having been near a piano in years!  She gently told them, “Ah, but I have.  I’ve been playing these pieces for hours each day over the years.” Indeed she had.