1. Self-Regulation of Attention, Focus and Emotions
Sports place demands on the brain to focus, while also demanding the brain ignore distractions. Neurofeedback training improves an athlete’s ability to stay on task, regulate emotions, and cope with stress. Athletes often struggle with the influence of emotional triggers while performing. Anxiety about an upcoming game, and the pressure to perform to high standards can negatively influence how an athlete performs. Neurofeedback training decreases anxiety overall, and makes high demand moments easier to manage emotionally.
2. Sleep
Poor sleep impairs performance. Athlete’s need restorative sleep to maintain brain health, assist in the physical healing process, and maintain optimal physical health. Neurofeedback training improves the quality and depth of sleep, which directly benefits an athlete's performance.
3. Post Concussion Recovery
Concussions are quite common in sports. Injuries to the brain can occur in single significant events, and/or in cumulative smaller events (such as when a soccer player hits the ball with their head repeatedly during years of sport). Concussions often impair attention, focus, emotional control (anxiety, depression), balance, impulse control, pain (headaches) and sleep (insomnia). Neurofeedback training assists neuroplasticity (the brain's natural ability to reorganize itself by creating new neural networks). Neurofeedback training teaches the brain to function normally again, even if it has been many years since the initial concussion.
Each sport places different demands on the brain, so training protocol differs case to case. To learn more about what neurofeedback training can do for you, schedule a free consultation with Connie Hurst, M.A., LMFT.
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