‘The Mind Room’ in Italian Soccer Training: The Use of Biofeedback for Optimum Performance

Vietta E. Wilson, Ph.D1, Erik Peper, Ph.D2, Hal Meyers, Ph.D.3 and Donald Moss, Ph.D.4

1 York University, Toronto, CA
2 San Francisco State University
3 Thought Technology, Ltd.
4 Saybrook Graduate School

Abstract

Key members of the Italian soccer team that recently won the World Cup utilized a number of biofeedback and neurofeedback techniques labeled “the Mind Room” administered by Dr. Bruno DeMichelis, the head of sport science at AC Milan.  The integration of biofeedback and neurofeedback into the common practices of sport psychology assesses and teaches the athlete to maintain appropriate breathing, relaxed muscles, coherent heart rhythms and relevant dominant alpha brain states. In order to score those game winning penalty kicks, the athlete needs to remain calm, but alert and focused on the goal while pandemonium is occurring around.

Sport psychology has evolved to the point that ‘common practices’ are found across sports and countries. The objectives of the ‘common practices’ in sport psychology include: maintain or enhance motivation (goal setting, reinforcement, etc); control body responses (relaxation, energization, repetition for ‘automatic’skill), control mind responses (arousal,  attention, non-thinking) and preparation for performance under stress (pre-match preparation, pre-shot or critical moments performance, mental recovery, etc.). The techniques used include relaxation, psychophysiological assessment, biofeedback, neurofeedback, cognitive restructuring, imagery, simulation). The major focus is to make the performance automatic and to have recovery/back-up systems in place that allow athletes or any professional to perform in a stressful situation when performance is not automatic. By having developing ritualized routines, these performances are more likely to become automatic (Singer, 2002).

Possibly, the mastery of these optimum performance skills contributed to the Italian’s team success in winning the 2006 world cup soccer championship since some of the players had worked with Dr. Bruno DeMichaels in his laboratory in Milan with the AC Milan Team. He applied many of these optimum performance principles in building ‘the Mind Room’ designed for enhancing the mental performance of the Italian soccer players. The components of optimum performance training protocol include: pre-performance state training, physiological assessment to master ‘zone of optimal functioning, desensitization and inhibition of self-talk.

Pre-performance state training
The training of optimal pre-performance states would prepare soccer players for the enormous pressure (playing for a world championship for country whose fans and even politicians identify  themselves as ‘the’ soccer country in the world) with numerous distractions (media, scandal, rabid noisy fans) using meditation, imagery,and desensitization  while monitoring and training psychophysiological responses. ((Kamata,Tenenbaum & Hanin, 2002; Martin,Moritz & Hall, 1999)

Physiological assessment to master ‘zone of optimal functioning
The assessment and training of body and mind responses is routinely done in ‘The Mind Room’ by monitoring EEG, EMG, Temperature, Heart Rate variability, blood volume pulse, EDA, respiration (Infiniti,Thought Technology) while the trainer guides the athletes through a series of relaxation and meditation exercises until they learn to master a quiet meditative state, similar to what is labeled the zone of optimal functioning in the research literature (Kamata, Tenenbaum, & Hanin, 2002).

Desensitization--Transforming failure into success
After learning how to maintain the quiet readiness state the athlete then visualizes himself playing in an actual game. The athletes also watch videos of his past performance, and when there is an inappropriate body response such as muscle tension as they watch an error in their performance, they are guided back to the relaxed and focused state with their attention drawn to creating positive responses to the past errors. The desensitization procedure is continued until the athletes can view the videos with minimal arousal or alarm during the performance errors. They also are trained to imagine upcoming situations, such as the penalty kicks, while being monitored to assure the same quiet calm and focused state. This simulation helps condition the athlete to unfamiliar or stressful situations.

Inhibition of self-talk
For optimum performance, athletes perform automatically.  Ideally it is a state of not thinking and is an important part of the training.  This “none thinking state” can be identified from specific EEG frequencies and locations when monitoring from athletes in self-paced sports such as golf or shooting for good and poor performances (Hatfield, Haufler & Spaulding, 2006). The major research shows a need to increase left-hemisphere alpha activity (F7,T4,T3 -in right dominant subjects) and inhibit 12 Hz recorded at T3 (as an indicator of disruptive inner self-talk) (Hatfield, Haufler & Spaulding, 2006). We have followed a training strategy of lowering arousal (increase SMR) and focusing attention(inhibit theta)  at Cz (Wilson, Peper & Thompson, in press). Similarly individual differences are found such as increases in hi beta at Cz ,which we interpret as  “busy brain” wherein the athlete is replaying or ruminating, and is illustrated in Fig 1. In this specific example, the athlete indicated that he was frustrated and replaying again and again how he “screwed up”.

Figure 1. EEG recorded from Cz while the athlete was resting after a reaction time task. The increased amplitude from 20 to 36 Hz indicated increased rumination.

The training consisted of letting the athlete be aware and able to identify their rumination which was followed by systematic neurofeedback training to inhibit this activity. In conjunction with changing coaches, who reinforces an inhibition of critical self evaluation, he is now in the top 3 in the world in his age division.

This case example, illustrates the complexity of determining what to train and how to train. Even when an athlete reaches the top, it is usually impossible to know what exactly leads to the success.  Training protocols are NOT mechanical formula; they are specifically developed and adapted for each performer. A process that is dialectically opposed to systematic controlled studies.  Nevertheless, most athletes and coaches agree that mental training/control is critical for optimal performance.

Conclusion

Optimum performance training protocols have been integrated with applied psychophysiology to monitor the covert and overt physiological response patterns and states. A number of these approaches have been used to train Italian soccer players.   The success of the Italian team in winning the World Cup rests on many factors from superior physical conditioning, skill training, team tactics, mental preparation and even luck. However, the use of the “mind room’ in professional soccer reflects the broadening acceptance and application of biofeedback and neurofeedback as an integral part of the training for those whose performance must be optimal during times of extreme stress. 

References

Hatfield, B.D., Haufler, A.J., & Spalding, T.W. (2006). A cognitive neuroscience perspective on sport performance. In: Ekkekakis, E. & Acevedo, E.(eds). Psychobiology of Physical Activity. Champaign, Ill: Human Kinetics Press, 221-240.

Kamata, A., Tenenbaum, G., & Hanin, Y.L. (2002). Individual zone of optimal functioning: a probabilistic estimation. J. Sport and Exercise Psychology. 24, 189-208.

Lidor,R. & Singer, R. N. (2002). Pre-performance state, routines, and automaticity: What does it take to realize expertise in self-paced events. J. Sport and Exercise Psychology, 24, 359-375.

Martin, K.A., Moritz, S.E., & Hall, C.R., (1999). Imagery use in sport: A literature review and applied model. Sport Psychologist, 13, 245-268.

Wilson, V.E., Peper, E., & Thompson, M. (in press). Attention! Attention in Sport. In: Linden, M., Strack, B., & Wilson, V. (eds). Biofeedback and Neuorfeedback in Sport. New York: Springer.