Head in the Game

An intriguing blend of science and sports that explores how some of the worlds greatest athletes are utilizing the last frontier of performance-enhancing technologythe mental mapping and engineering of their own brainsfor peak performance, and what it means for the future of athleticism, sports, and the rest of us.Moneyball showed how statistics were revolutionizing baseball. The Sports Gene revealed the role genetics play in sports. Now, Head in the Game examines the next evolution: how mental engineeringthe manipulation of the cognitive processes of the braincan make gifted athletes even better. For years, technologyfrom EEG (electroencephalogram) to fMRI (Functional magnetic resonance imaging) to video games, tablets, and personal data collection deviceshave been used with soldiers to understand their physical and mental functioning. Touching on brain functionality vital to sportsboth the 'hard' (coordination, stimuli processing, functional memory, decision-making, load-processing) and the 'soft' (emotion regulation, visualization, psychology, mindfulness)this tech is now being adopted by scores of championship franchises and top athletesincluding scrappy underdogs forced to innovate and elite players looking for an advantage. Star NFL quarterbacks Russell Wilson and Tom Brady, the NBAs Kyle Korver, and Olympic volleyball champion Kerri Walsh are using mental engineering to up their game. Its not luck that has transformed the San Antonio Spurs into a formidable forceits science, Sneed demonstrates. As mental engineering becomes widespreadtaking athletes who are already freaks of nature and making them betterthe impact on the multi-billion dollar sports industry will be dramatic on players, managers, trainers, owners, and even fans. Interviewing athletes and coaches, visiting training camps and sports science firms, Brandon Sneed offers a firsthand, on-the-ground look at this exciting breakthrough that has the potential to transform to transform the gameand all our lives.