To win you need muscles, technique, speed. But what is becoming increasingly clear, how fundamental is the strength of mind, the ability to be focused, free from distractions. On the stage of the Time of Health, at the Museum of Science and Technology in Milan, the journalist Cristina Marrone interview Riccardo Ceccarelli, sports doctor, founder of Formula Medicine, which has been working alongside Formula 1 drivers for over 30 years, e Riccardo Piatti, tennis coach and coach of great champions, including Jannik Sinner.
The mental economy
With them we discuss how much head training counts in sports performance. And the key word is immediately given to us by Ceccarelli: Mental economy. It is all there, says the doctor, who has made it the subject of his studies. Analyzing, researching, I understood that the rhythm of a sports competition given by the athlete’s tiredness or mental clarity. Through an MRI, I studied the reactions of the brains of twelve pilots, we compared them with those of some students and we understood that what determines their strength is this mental economy. That is, while we mere mortals have our heads crowded with fears, anxieties, distractions, they save, they save, in fact. They clear the road of all thoughts and, to stay on topic, put them on autopilot. Translated: a winning driver, with the same performance, has a lower cerebral energy expenditure, that is to say that his posterior parietal cortex, involved in the production of planned movements, is activated little, just enough to complete the task, almost as if it were an automatism. Those who are not mentally trained in a certain type of activity will have a greater expenditure of brain energy.
But how is it done? How do you learn to do mental economics? Ceccarelli always replies: With awareness, everything is there. A great athlete must have high self-esteem. To achieve it, he must know his strengths and weaknesses. Because only by knowing one’s limits can the best results be obtained, and, consequently, self-confidence, flexibility and adaptability increase.
To confirm Ceccarelli’s theories, there is the story of Sinner, reported by Riccardo Piatti. When Jannik loses a race he doesn’t focus on what went wrong, he immediately thinks about how he can improve in the next training session. I felt his mental strength from the very beginning. And he continues: I believe that in a match 70% is the mind, 20% the order of play, 10% the opponent. The player must be very efficient, but not easy because there are so many distracting situations on the pitch. As a coach I look for athletes who have a mental predisposition to overcome difficulties: Jannik has it.
Mental training
You can learn to do mental economics. Of course, many champions are likely to be predisposed to this type of approach not only in sport but also in life, but we can all train ourselves to waste less energy and be more focused. We also work with hyperemotional, anxious people who are often blocked by performance anxiety: You can learn to overcome these fears through some techniques that teach concentration, says Ceccareli. Every sportsman, for example, has his own method to stem anxiety before a competition: There are those who watch a film, those who play video games, those who surround themselves with friends and family, those who do mindfulness, those who do yoga. Relaxation techniques all have one common denominator: getting distracted. They divert the mind from what is stressing, the doctor continues. Riccardo Piatti, before saying goodbye, reveals Sinner’s pre-race relaxation rituals and techniques: Take a twenty-minute nap. Then he gets dressed, gets ready and five minutes before he concentrates, thinks about the game by himself. Then ready to take the field.
November 5, 2021 (change November 5, 2021 | 17:10)
© breaking latest news