A
Montreal firm developed the Mind Room, which helps Azzurri
players put soccer into focus
AARON DERFEL, The Gazette
Published:
Saturday, July 08, 2006
When
Italy plays against France tomorrow in the World Cup
final, some of its best players will be relying on a
secret weapon.
Shoes
with special cleats? No. Shorts that make a forward
run faster? Not really.
Rather,
the secret weapon in question is called the Mind Room
and it was developed in Montreal.
For
months now, at least four players on the Italian national
team have been training in the Mind Room to prepare
themselves mentally for clutch moments in the World
Cup. Although the Mind Room is located in Italy, the
biofeedback equipment was invented by Thought Technology
Ltd. of Montreal.
Forward
Alberto Gilardino, defender Alessandro Nesta as well
as midfielders Andrea Pirlo and Gennaro Gattuso all
swear by ProComp, the main device in the Mind Room.
Although Nesta is injured, the other three are likely
to play in the final.
"These
guys have been trained by Bruno De Michelis, the head
of sport science of AC Milan, to be able to focus, to
concentrate and to get into the zone for their peak
performance," said Lawrence Klein, vice-president
of Thought Technology.
"There
is no question that mental preparation is the key difference,
because these guys are all extraordinarily fit and talented.
Our instrumentation helps the athletes reach that optimal
state of mind."
In
the Mind Room, the athletes lie on reclining chairs,
their bodies strapped to the ProComp device that measures
seven physiological signs - from their brain waves and
muscle tension to their breathing and heart rate. De
Michelis then trains them to use their minds to reach
a meditative state.
The
next step is to teach the athletes to maintain that
state while visualizing in their minds their athletic
performance. They often watch videos of their performances
on the pitch.
If
they have a particular problem - like missing a penalty
kick or hitting the crossbar - De Michelis will train
them to relax mentally. He does this by first getting
them into the meditative state, then showing them a
video of their flawed performance for a couple of seconds.
Naturally, their muscles will immediately tense and
their blood pressure will go up as they watch the missed
goal, but De Michelis will get them to relax again.
The
psychologist will repeat this until the player can watch
the flawed performance from start to finish while maintaining
the meditative state.
The
idea is that when they go out on the pitch and have
to make the penalty kick, they'll be so focused, so
prepared mentally, that they won't miss. They'll be
able to bring down their heart rate when they don't
have to run to conserve energy, and they'll do that
without even thinking.
"The
athletes will be able to reach that state of mind when
presented with challenges," offered Hal Myers,
the inventor of ProComp, who holds a doctorate in experimental
medicine and is a part-time collector of Victorian-era
medical equipment that adorns his office.
Klein
and Myers, both sports buffs, founded Thought Technology
in 1974 to devise instrumentation for stroke rehabilitation
and other medical conditions. But they soon realized
that their biofeedback technology can easily apply to
athletics. Their modest offices occupy the second floor
of a nondescript brick building in Notre Dame de Grace
- hardly the place one would expect to find soccer's
secret weapon.
Reached
by phone in Italy yesterday, De Michelis said that a
number of companies specialize in bio- or neurofeedback,
but he considers Thought Technology's instrumentation
to be the most reliable.
"These
devices are just tools to train better mentally,"
he said. "Integrated training gives you the capacity
to recover through relaxation, to practise better, to
concentrate better and to visualize in order to improve
your skills."
Not
all of Italy's players have used the Mind Room, only
those who belong to AC Milan. So how have they performed?
During
the World Cup, Pirlo has been making razor-sharp passes
on the pitch. Although Gilardino has been used mostly
as a substitute, he set up a crucial goal against Germany
in the semifinal.
As
for Gattuso, he has run hard in the midfield, often
winning the ball. The Washington Post has described
him as among the best players in the tournament, known
for his "tenacious tackling."
The
Post predicted that "the battle between Gattuso
and (France's Zinedine) Zidane will be one of the key
duels of the final."
A
final that might be decided more in the mind than on
the pitch.
aderfel@thegazette.canwest.com
©
The Gazette (Montreal) 2006
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