Tag Archive for 'attenzione'

Effects of exercise on cognitive functions

Published on November 25, 2023 in Allenatori, Calcio, Corsa, Generale, Giovani, Mental coaching, Olimpiadi, Stress, Tennis and Tiro a volo. 0 Comments Tags: attenzione, memoria, percezione.

Zhang M, Jia J, Yang Y, Zhang L, Wang X. Effects of exercise interventions on cognitive functions in healthy populations: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Ageing Res Rev. 2023 Nov 3;92:102116.

American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) indicate that several exercise variables should be assessed when considering exercise prescriptions to improve the cognitive health of the brain; they proposed the FITT-VP principle as a reference, defined as:

exercise frequency (how often)
intensity (difficulty)
time (duration of each bout of exercise)
type (of exercise)
volume (total amount of exercise per intervention)
progression (change in difficulty in an exercise program over intervention time)

There is dearth of studies that have simultaneously considered:

whether chronic exercise interventions may affect various cognitive functions of individuals in the general population from childhood to adulthood and into older age
how each of exercise variables further moderating this relationship
in healthy populations of children and youths (ages 6–17 years old), adults (ages 18–60 years old), and elderly adults (ages >60 years)

The analysis of exercise type indicated that all exercise types had significant effects on cognition.

For exercise duration, moderate and long exercise durations (p < 0.001) both had significant effects on cognition.
Low and moderate exercise frequency both had significant effects on cognition.
Some of the assessed cognitive domains benefited positively from exercise interventions. Specifically, global cognition (p＜0.001), executive function (p = 0.01), and memory (p = 0.01) showed statistically significant differences compared to the control groups, whereas no statistical significance was found for attention (p = 0.14) and information processing.
Global cognition needs aerobic exercise, moderate duration,, moderate frequency, moderate intensity.
Executive function need resistance exercise, low frequency and moderate length intervention.
Memory requires mind-body exercise, moderate duration, moderate frequency, high-intensity exercise and moderate intervention length.
Attention and information processing need low-intensity and moderate frequency exercise.
Global cognition, executive function, and memory performances were significantly improved in older participants.

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When the brain requires breaks

Published on July 31, 2023 in Allenatori, Calcio, Corsa, Generale, Giovani, Mental coaching, Olimpiadi, Stress, Tennis and Tiro a volo. 0 Comments Tags: attenzione, break, pausa, prestazione.

In an age when one must be “always on,” athletes represent a type of population to which this rule fully applies. The issue is that with this type of life setting it is not at all easy to find a balance between competitive demands and personal well-being.

Therefore, it is important for those pursuing a career in sports to find a way of life in which mental breaks are present in order to be able to continue to improve their ability to do quality work and sustain their well-being.

But the most compelling reason for taking a brain break is that it may improve your ability to do quality work. A 2022 systematic review found that even short breaks lasting 10 minutes or less reduced mental fatigue and increased vigor (meaning the willingness to persist when work became difficult).

These breaks especially improved performance on tasks requiring creativity.
The concept of micro-breaks originates in the ergonomics literature, defined as scheduled rests that individuals take to prevent the onset or progression of physical symptoms, such as musculoskeletal pain or discomfort. In the organizational literature, this concept was introduced as a brief resource-replenishing strategy, taken informally between work tasks.

Micro-breaks can be seen as natural reactions of the cognitive system to a possible cognitive overload that could affect performance.

In terms of specific outcomes, there are two individual-level components of well-being relevant for recovery: vigor (a pleasant activation) and fatigue (unpleasant deactivation). For the athletes, vigor is an intrinsic resource that must be replenished when exhausted. Vigor contributes to the willingness to invest effort into the tasks at hand and persist when difficulties arise.

Performance represents another key outcome on which micro-breaks are considered to have an impact. It is well known that cognitive and motivational factors are the main determinants of human performance. Breaks can improve task performance through beneficial resource-strain, cognitive, affective, and motivational mechanisms. Breaks are essential for performance on tasks requiring continuous attention, suggesting that the vigilance sensitivity decrement is influenced by the frequent use of cognitive resources.

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Tennis, Badosa: +expectations = -game focus

Published on September 22, 2022 in Allenatori, Calcio, Corsa, Giovani, Mental coaching, Olimpiadi, Stress, Tennis and Tiro a volo. 0 Comments Tags: attenzione, Badosa, crisi.

“Everything seemed all set for Paula Badosa‘s ultimate rise in the stardom of women’s tennis, but 2022, which was expected to be the year of consecration, has so far been rather disappointing (the last defeat yesterday in Tokyo against 19-year-old Qinwen Zheng of China). This is a paradox when one considers that Badosa at one point this season, precisely after the Stuttgart tournament, became world number two, a position held, however, for only two weeks. How did it get from world number two to Badosa’s now well-known tweet this morning? “I don’t even win at parchìs.” A strong statement for a tennis player who is currently ranked number eight in the world but is going through a complicated phase emotionally. The reference to parchìs is typically Spanish, a board game with dice in which four players compete to achieve a goal, very famous in Spain and with some similarities to the game of the goose. A metaphor that betrays Badosa’s frustration, who in the tweet afterwards thanked everyone for the support, adding that he will keep fighting.”

This news highlights how difficult it always is to achieve results that match the outcome standards an athlete has set for herself. At first glance these would seem to be situations more typical of a teenage age when one does not yet know one’s qualities well, but instead these are the experiences of absolute world-class athletes. In fact, The Abbess is not the only one to experience these crises just remember Osaka or the difficulties of many other top 10s.

A survey I conducted with Robert Nideffer and Jeff Bond (former director of the Australian Institute of Sport) of absolute world level athletes showed that the difference between Olympic medal winners and those who had won more, so-called, serial winners consisted essentially in the latter’s greater ability to stay focused on the task.

This result would indicate that serial winners do not get distracted by their own expectations and those of their environment, think less about the outcome, are less influenced by the external environment and instead show a total focus on performing at their best. Other investigations conducted mainly in athletics have in turn shown that for these athletes the last two hours leading up to the race are crucial in activating this attentional mode.

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The cost of Donnarumma’s distraction

Published on March 11, 2022 in Allenatori, Calcio, Corsa, Generale, Giovani, Mental coaching, Olimpiadi, Stress, Tennis and Tiro a volo. 0 Comments Tags: attenzione, distrazione, Donnarumma, psg.

Have you ever experienced the frustration of wanting to focus on something and not being able to, because your mind goes all over the place and you can’t bring it back, to the idea, action or feeling you wanted to experience.

I would say, that you should not worry too much when this happens. Getting distracted is in fact a very common experience and common to all people. However, there are times when we pay too high a price for a simple distraction. Let’s think, for example, of Paris Saint Germain goalkeeper Gigi Donnarumma, who against Real Madrid made a pass that crossed the entire length of the goal he was defending and on which an opposing player swooped with ease and put it in the net.

Probably Donnarumma had never made a mistake like that before, but he was distracted and so he did the wrong thing at the wrong time. You will say that one of the best goalkeepers in the world should not make such serious mistakes due to superficiality. Instead, as we have seen it is possible.

So, even in such experienced people distractions are always lurking and the greater the importance of the situation the more serious will be the effect of the error. Donnarumma, obviously, knows well that these mistakes should never happen but awareness is not enough to avoid them. His explanation of the error was aimed at convincing the referee that he had suffered a foul that hindered his referral. In essence, an attempt to shift the focus from the superficiality with which he had dealt with that action. In a match, superficiality is synonymous with a lack of respect for the opponent, which leads to give little attention to what is really happening in those moments.

In those moments, the player is distracted for several reasons including underestimating the threat posed by the opponent and the mistake, in the belief that everything will be fine.

Instead, a goal was scored by Real Madrid and this also led to the simultaneous conviction of the Spaniards to be able to win and to the depressive reaction of PSG, which was unable to regain its lost confidence, due to a distraction of one of its players. As teenagers playing tennis say about an opponent, when because of one lost point they lose many others in a consecutive way, PSG has melted.

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How to be focused is so difficult

Published on March 9, 2022 in Allenatori, Calcio, Corsa, Generale, Giovani, Mental coaching, Olimpiadi, Stress, Tennis and Tiro a volo. 0 Comments Tags: attenzione.

For an athlete to be focused is one of the most difficult mental activities to develop and manage.

In sports, concentration must be total, and its development never ends, because as the level of difficulty of the performance to be provided increases, so do the obstacles to maintaining the necessary attention.

Errors, moreover, are always lurking and any of them can take away energy and conviction to the ability to respond effectively.

Usually, athletes are not aware of the intensity level of their concentration: am I focused on the right things? Am I moving with an adequate degree of intensity= am I aware of the timing of my action (right, too slow or too fast).

Is it possible to be convinced to be attentive and make concentration errors? Yes!

You know that you make mistakes because: you act before you think, you think too much and you do the right thing at the wrong time.

Attention training consists in giving answers to these questions.

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Do you know how to improve your focus?

Published on January 14, 2022 in Calcio, Corsa, Generale, Giovani, Mental coaching, Olimpiadi, Stress, Tennis and Tiro a volo. 0 Comments Tags: attenzione.

Many young people are not aware of what is meant by the intensity of an exercise or a workout.

It is certainly easier to understand it in those sports where execution is required with a precise time or in any case with a well-defined speed.

But these definitions still refer to technical aspects. It seems to me, however, that there is often less awareness of the quality of their concentration and how much it is possible for them to increase it even when they believe they are at maximum focus on a task.

There is also little attention from coaches to train concentration and especially to improve it over time even in those who are focused and motivated. It is believed that attention and motivation are assets that the athlete must put on his or her own and that teaching should only concern technique or tactics or physical and athletic improvement.

Of course, even psychologists do not know how to enhance these psychological dimensions, since their course of study does not include these issues. I consider this deficiency rather serious in a world that bases everything on speed of response, on the management of more information and on the reduction of stress that these determine in everyday life.

How do we become aware of the way we pay attention and how do we train it to improve our performance?

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World champions’ attention processes

Published on December 15, 2021 in Allenatori, Calcio, Corsa, Generale, Giovani, Mental coaching, Olimpiadi, Stress, Tennis and Tiro a volo. 0 Comments Tags: attenzione, Campioni.

Athletes can make three types of errors due to the type of attention they use at any given point in the race: the first relates to environmental distraction (audience, weather, opponents), the second relates to mental overload (excessive worry, high expectations), and the third relates to emotional overload (anxiety, fear, anger).

Based on these data, world record holders are particularly proficient in minimizing errors due to environmental distraction and thought overload compared to other world-class athletes in the three sport types (closed skill, open skill, and team) and adolescent athletes.

However, even for them, the main source of distraction relates to the emotional component of their thoughts, which, at the most important moments, can take over and disrupt the quality of their performance (Source: Cei Consulting, 2017).

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In the true momentum it needs concentration

Published on June 6, 2021 in Allenatori, Calcio, Corsa, Generale, Giovani, Mental coaching, Olimpiadi, Stress, Tennis and Tiro a volo. 0 Comments Tags: attenzione, tokyo 2021.

We are just a short time from the Tokyo Olympics, the most important event in the athletic careers of most athletes. As Robert Nideffer has taught, concentration is what unites Army special forces, managers, and top-performing athletes. The updated chart of the attentional style profiles of thousands of athletes around the world shows that even world champions make attentional errors due to emotional overload.Certainly to a lesser extent than other types of athletes, but this is still the main focus of their mental preparation if they want to perform at their best at the next Olympics.

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Coaching Z generation

Published on December 3, 2020 in Allenatori, Calcio, Corsa, Generale, Giovani, Mental coaching, Olimpiadi, Stress, Tennis and Tiro a volo. 0 Comments Tags: attenzione, coaching, facebook, Gen Z, generazione, resilienza.

Daniel Gould, Jennifer Nalepa & Michael Mignano (2019). Coaching Generation Z Athletes. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 32:1, 104-120.

Although it has always been essential that coaches adapt their coaching to athlete characteristics, this may be more important today than ever before as coaches adjust to a new generation of athletes who have grown up in a total digital age, which has had major effects on their characteristics and ways of behaving.

Today’s young athletes represent Generation Z (Gen Z):

Youth born after 1996, making up 26% of the U.S. population and 27% of the world population
Gen Z youth, they have been influenced by socioeconomic uncertainty (e.g., the global recession of 2008), international terrorism (e.g., 9/11) and natural disasters (e.g., Hurricane Katrina)
They are the best-educated generation in history and are the first generation of youth who have grown up in a totally digital environment, which has resulted in Gen Z youth having excellent technology skills
At the same time, because of the amount of time they spend on technology, they are thought to have shorter attention spans, the need for frequent feedback, and a lack of independence

Social psychologist Jean Twenge (2017):

Today’s youth grow up more slowly (e.g., engage in sex at a later age, hold off longer on obtaining a driver’s license, engage in alcohol consumption later than their millennial predecessors) and are the most protected and safest generation ever but at the same time avoid adult responsibilities such as moving out of the house and becoming financially independent.
Growing up in the digital world spend less time in direct contact with their friends and loved ones. This is one reason they have highest ever generational reports of depression, anxiety, and loneliness. Finally, growing up in a highly engaging digital world, Gen Z youth’s attention spans are shorter, and they often multitask even when this may not be effective.

Encel, Mesagno, and Brown (2017) surveyed 298 British athletes to determine both their Facebook use and if Facebook use was related to anxiety. Results revealed that 68% of the athletes used Facebook within 2hr of competition, and time spent on social media was related to the Concentration Disruption subscale of the Sport Anxiety Scale.

At the beginning stages of working with Gen Z athletes, coaches felt that athletes lacked the ability deal with adversity.

Overtime, with structured resilience-building practices, coaches observed an improvement in Gen Z athletes’ abilities to handle adversity. By creating stressful practice situations and coaching athletes through them, Gen Z athletes improved their resiliency.

Athletes did not respond well to negative feedback. Athletes often took negative feedback personally and would get upset when confronted with criticism.

Gen Z athletes show short attention spans. Coaches also found that Gen Z athletes were easily distracted and had difficulty blockling out distractions.

Gen Z athletes were perceived to need structure and boundaries to guide them through their tennis development.

Gen Z athletes were mostly extrinsically motivated by results, material things, and social comparison. Coaches discussed how pressure from parents and coaches served as extrinsic sources that drove players motivation. In terms of work ethic, most coaches discussed how Gen Z athletes worked hard and had a strong work ethic once on the tennis court.

Gen Z athletes had poor communication skills. Coaches believed that players had difficulty expressing their emotions, were shy and hesitant to speak up, and lacked basic conversational skills (i.e., eye contact).

Coaches also felt that Gen Z players would check what they were told by the coach and were not quick to believe something just because the coach had said it.

Coaches felt that today’s athletes were more educated than in past generations as they had access to an abundance of information online and had excellent technology skills that made finding information easy for them.

Gen Z athletes were perceived to be visual learners, which was discussed as a strength, as coaches were able to incorporate technology as a learning aid during practice and training. Last, coaches felt that athletes were curious and open to learning from coaches through their need to understand the “why” and the connection to performance.

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