Head in the Game: The Mental Engineering of the World's Greatest Athletes

An intriguing blend of science and sports that explores how some of the worlds greatest athletes are utilizing the last frontier of performance-enhancing technology—the mental mapping and engineering of their own brains—for peak performance, and what it means for the future of athleticism, sports, and the rest of us.

Moneyball showed how statistics were revolutionizing baseball. The Sports Gene revealed the role genetics play in sports. Now, Head in the Game examines the next evolution: how mental engineering—the manipulation of the cognitive processes of the brain—can make gifted athletes even better.

For years, technology—from EEG (electroencephalogram) to fMRI (Functional magnetic resonance imaging) to video games, tablets, and personal data collection devices—have been used with soldiers to understand their physical and mental functioning. Touching on brain functionality vital to sports—both the "hard" (coordination, stimuli processing, functional memory, decision-making, load-processing) and the "soft" (emotion regulation, visualization, psychology, mindfulness)—this tech is now being adopted by scores of championship franchises and top athletes—including scrappy underdogs forced to innovate and elite players looking for an advantage.

Star NFL quarterbacks Russell Wilson and Tom Brady, the NBA's Kyle Korver, and Olympic volleyball champion Kerri Walsh are using mental engineering to up their game. It's not luck that has transformed the San Antonio Spurs into a formidable force—it's science, Sneed demonstrates. As mental engineering becomes widespread—taking athletes who are already freaks of nature and making them better—the impact on the multi-billion dollar sports industry will be dramatic on players, managers, trainers, owners, and even fans. Interviewing athletes and coaches, visiting training camps and sports science firms, Brandon Sneed offers a firsthand, on-the-ground look at this exciting breakthrough that has the potential to transform to transform the game—and all our lives.

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Head in the Game: The Mental Engineering of the World's Greatest Athletes

An intriguing blend of science and sports that explores how some of the worlds greatest athletes are utilizing the last frontier of performance-enhancing technology—the mental mapping and engineering of their own brains—for peak performance, and what it means for the future of athleticism, sports, and the rest of us.

Moneyball showed how statistics were revolutionizing baseball. The Sports Gene revealed the role genetics play in sports. Now, Head in the Game examines the next evolution: how mental engineering—the manipulation of the cognitive processes of the brain—can make gifted athletes even better.

For years, technology—from EEG (electroencephalogram) to fMRI (Functional magnetic resonance imaging) to video games, tablets, and personal data collection devices—have been used with soldiers to understand their physical and mental functioning. Touching on brain functionality vital to sports—both the "hard" (coordination, stimuli processing, functional memory, decision-making, load-processing) and the "soft" (emotion regulation, visualization, psychology, mindfulness)—this tech is now being adopted by scores of championship franchises and top athletes—including scrappy underdogs forced to innovate and elite players looking for an advantage.

Star NFL quarterbacks Russell Wilson and Tom Brady, the NBA's Kyle Korver, and Olympic volleyball champion Kerri Walsh are using mental engineering to up their game. It's not luck that has transformed the San Antonio Spurs into a formidable force—it's science, Sneed demonstrates. As mental engineering becomes widespread—taking athletes who are already freaks of nature and making them better—the impact on the multi-billion dollar sports industry will be dramatic on players, managers, trainers, owners, and even fans. Interviewing athletes and coaches, visiting training camps and sports science firms, Brandon Sneed offers a firsthand, on-the-ground look at this exciting breakthrough that has the potential to transform to transform the game—and all our lives.

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Head in the Game: The Mental Engineering of the World's Greatest Athletes

Head in the Game: The Mental Engineering of the World's Greatest Athletes

by Brandon Sneed
Head in the Game: The Mental Engineering of the World's Greatest Athletes

Head in the Game: The Mental Engineering of the World's Greatest Athletes

by Brandon Sneed

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Overview

An intriguing blend of science and sports that explores how some of the worlds greatest athletes are utilizing the last frontier of performance-enhancing technology—the mental mapping and engineering of their own brains—for peak performance, and what it means for the future of athleticism, sports, and the rest of us.

Moneyball showed how statistics were revolutionizing baseball. The Sports Gene revealed the role genetics play in sports. Now, Head in the Game examines the next evolution: how mental engineering—the manipulation of the cognitive processes of the brain—can make gifted athletes even better.

For years, technology—from EEG (electroencephalogram) to fMRI (Functional magnetic resonance imaging) to video games, tablets, and personal data collection devices—have been used with soldiers to understand their physical and mental functioning. Touching on brain functionality vital to sports—both the "hard" (coordination, stimuli processing, functional memory, decision-making, load-processing) and the "soft" (emotion regulation, visualization, psychology, mindfulness)—this tech is now being adopted by scores of championship franchises and top athletes—including scrappy underdogs forced to innovate and elite players looking for an advantage.

Star NFL quarterbacks Russell Wilson and Tom Brady, the NBA's Kyle Korver, and Olympic volleyball champion Kerri Walsh are using mental engineering to up their game. It's not luck that has transformed the San Antonio Spurs into a formidable force—it's science, Sneed demonstrates. As mental engineering becomes widespread—taking athletes who are already freaks of nature and making them better—the impact on the multi-billion dollar sports industry will be dramatic on players, managers, trainers, owners, and even fans. Interviewing athletes and coaches, visiting training camps and sports science firms, Brandon Sneed offers a firsthand, on-the-ground look at this exciting breakthrough that has the potential to transform to transform the game—and all our lives.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780062455956
Publisher: Dey Street Books
Publication date: 05/21/2024
Sold by: OPEN ROAD INTEGRATED - EBKS
Format: eBook
Pages: 389
File size: 2 MB

About the Author

Brandon Sneed is an author and journalist. He recently joined B/R Mag at Bleacher Report as a features writer. Previously, his stories have appeared in Outside, ESPN The Magazine, and more, and have twice been not-able selections in Best American Sports Writing. When Brandon's not on the road, his home base is Greenville, North Carolina, where he lives with his wife, toddler son, the baby in his wife's belly, and their two dogs, a Jack Russell Terrier and a half—Jack Russell half—pit bull. For news about Brandon's work and events, or just to say hey, visitbrandonsneed.com.

Table of Contents

Prologue: The Conspiracy 1

Part 1 The Mind

Chapter 1 Two Very Different Brains 13

Chapter 2 A Way Beyond the Labels 31

Chapter 3 "Holy Hell! This Is So Exciting!" 43

Chapter 4 Home of the Mind 61

Chapter 5 The Problem and Inevitable Death of Stigma 71

Chapter 6 New Ways to See Old Stuff 93

Part 2 The Body

Chapter 7 The Power of a Proper Breath 133

Chapter 8 Rule the Body, Rule the Mind 135

Chapter 9 This Is Your Brain on Drugs 151

Chapter 10 Shocking Potential 173

Chapter 11 A Delightful Hijacking 189

Part 3 The Craft

Chapter 12 The Phrase of Death 211

Chapter 13 Gaming the Brain 219

Chapter 14 Training Times One Hundred 237

Chapter 15 "And Shoot, It's Real!" 251

Chapter 16 Window to the Brain 271

Part 4 The Spirit

Chapter 17 Project Acheron 291

Chapter 18 Psyehedelica 303

Chapter 19 Deprivation 333

Epilogue The Results 337

Acknowledgments 347

Notes and Sources 351

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