Staring Fear in the Face: Olympic Athletes and Engrams

With the entire world focused on Beijing, the Chinese have gone to great lengths to host these Olympic games.  News agencies and blogs around the globe have commented on the Chinese Athlete Machine, with a Yahoo sports blog commenting on Yao Ming and his need to step out of the state sponsored basketball program.  Much has been made of the weight of expectation the Chinese athletes carry as they seek to represent their home country in these games.  Which leads to the subject of this post…dealing with competitive pressure in a positive way. 

Have you ever asked yourself why you lose focus when the heat gets turned up?  Why do I hook my golf shot when people are watching?  How could I blank on that speech to the board of directors when I spent days pouring over the material?  Why do some athletes sink the winning basket (think Michael Jordan) when others choke?  In the Olympics the athletes train for years to overcome these mental barriers, and they have specific techniques to aid with this phenomenon, one such concept is that of the engram. 

According to Dale Goddard and Udo Neumann in their book Performance Rock Climbing, engrams are “memories ingrained in your brain that are the basis for all movement”.  In other words the way we train and the experiences we have are imprinted in our minds, when we encounter new experiences our mind refers back to previous experiences to process the new information.  According to Goddard and Neumann under extreme situations of stress the athlete only uses his or her most practised and instinctive engrams. 

This begs the question, how do I train my mind for high pressure situations?

Here are ten steps to engram development:

1.  Execute under ideal conditions (practice proper technique in a comfortable environment)

2.  Concentrate on good technique

3.  Avoid practicing when afraid (the brain records the fear associated with the event)

4.  Repeat, Repeat, Repeat (This cements the proper routine in the mind)

5.  Once technique is solidified introduce competitive pressure (even through mock competitions or challenges such as doing a routine perfect the first time)

6.  Gradually increase pressure as comfort level increases

7.  Rather than practice until muscular failure, practice until close to failure but with emphasis on good technique (better to end with the mind focusing on good technique)

8.  Cross-train

9.  Include down time for the brain to assimilate new, improved techniques

I would add one final tip which I have been reminded of through musical training…start slow, focus on technique and increase speed once the technique has been perfected.  Despite the fact that these techniques are targeted towards athletes, I believe that the same principles could be adapted for other disciplines…whether it be the office, a hobby, or a specific task.  Mastering the art of florishing under pressure is a skill that, once developed, is as good as gold.