Extraordinary feats, not explained by science and training
The most entertaining and historical athletic feats in history are usually the most unexplainable. How do high level performers shoot game winning shots, make seemingly impossible plays, and continue to PR in competition in ways they never see in practice. While science, performance, preparation, and training explains a lot of this, we would be ignorant to think that there is not a supernatural aspect to this concept (and when I say supernatural, I mean unexplainable). As I think about this, I think about the factors that could play into this ability. Is it that the athlete is inspired by their coach? Is it the crowd and motivation of fans around them? Is it the unique energy they feel from their team in that moment? Or mayb, is it something that triggers an internal fire that pushes them to be greater? As someone who has seen what feels like supernatural feats in their own athletic career, I truly believe that there are factors and mental states that we can help athletes tap into to increase their likelihood of achieving them.
I probably do not have to tell you how powerful the mind can be. It is our command and center control system for our entire body. So what we tell our mind, how we nourish it, and the influences we let penetrate it can have physiologic effects on our body, equating to physical effects on our performance. We will look at this concept from 3 perspectives, the coach, the athlete, and the environment.
Starting with the coach. A relationship between a coach and an athlete is one of the most important relationships within an individual's athletic career. A good relationship can keep an athlete loyal to the same team/coach for years and performing at their peak. While a poor one can be the link to poor performance, psychological trauma, and a grown hatred for what they do. To foster a good coach- to - athlete relationship, the coach must first work to understand the athlete in and out. Understand how they best communicate, understand their personality type, understand their background and how that affects their play, know what is happening in their social environment, have a good understanding of all physical programming with outside trainers and clinicians, and most importantly be able to speak life into the athlete in their preferred language.
An example I saw as an athlete was with constructive feedback. Having had multiple basketball coaches I can still remember to this day the coaches that encouraged me, and corrected me in the way that made me play at my peak performance. Surprisingly the one that was the most influential was one of my dad’s friends who decided to start his own womens summer basketball club with the local military kids in San Diego. I remember he put me at point guard and pretty much played me all 40 mins of the game with no rest 75% of the time. This subtle decision on his part pumped so much confidence in me that my performance on the court increased more than any other time in my career. Was he a good technically sound coach? No. Was he the top coach in California? No. Was our team in the best league? Definitely not. I remember games where I would fall on the floor, have scrapes and blood all over my jersey, and he would take me out, give me a blank T shirt and write a #0 on it and send me back in without even thinking twice (you could do this back then). With this confidence In that season I made game winning shots from my knees after being tackled by another player, shot half court 3 pointers and scored multiple times, and had the highest # of assists in my career. This coach allowed me to make mistakes in the game without negative consequence and never once spoke to me in an angry and disappointed tone. I soon became one of the top athletes in my league with very little game time error.
What this coach noticed early on is that independence and trust were almost a love language of mine. If he could foster that in our relationship, he could get me to perform in ways that science and training could not explain alone. While this was my experience, there are some who respond better to a firmer hand, negative consequences for mistakes, and a more aggressive and angry demeanor. Being able to identify this early on in an athlete and nurture it can lead to levels of performance unexplained by science.
“The athlete” is where the concepts of the power of the mind, passion, and intrinsic motivation come into play. One of the most inspiring people in my life is David Goggins. One of few black navy seals and an ultra marathon runner, David talks constantly about the power of the mind. How he himself has reached incredible physical feats by tapping into places in his mind that can be hard to access without practice. This could be as simple as “your why”, your motivator for why you do what you do. It could be “your past” and your complex history that has made you who you are today. It could be “your dreams” and the visions you have for your future and then so much more. These are places you can visit in your mind that have the power to create a more powerful presence in your play and performance. Techniques like meditation, visualization, creative thinking, and internal coaching are some of many ways one can tap into this and create a greater focus, fire, and mental strength.
The environment an athlete is in is everything. The external pressures from fans, coaches, and family coupled with the competition itself and the need to win can all create an environment of unexplainable physical performance. These external stimuli and the impact they have on an athlete is unique to the athlete itself. While it will cause the athlete to make their own adaptations, a coach or support system can start to recognize the effects of environment on the athlete and help them create strategies to optimize that effect in the intended direction.
Know that this is not based in science but simply observational and experiential. Researchers in the performance field still spend ample time trying to understand how to quantitatively assist athletes to be able to tap into correct parameters necessary to achieve these extraordinary feats in competition. Regardless I truly believe that performance is only set by the barriers one puts on himself. If you believe something can happen, you probably will get very close, if not there.
