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Wonder what the U.S. Military Academy does to prepare their cadets to lead and stay mentally tough under the life and death stress of combat conditions?
I recently had the amazing chance to meet with the staff of the Army's Center for Enhanced Performance (CEP) to share some of the lessons I have learned about leadership as well as tour their state of the art facility at West Point.
The program, headed by Dr. Nate Zinsser, is definitely on the cutting edge when it comes to developing mentally tough warriors who are prepared to compete and win on the playing fields and battlefields.
Here's a rare glimpse into some of the elite mental training techniques used at the Army's Center for Enhanced Performance - as well as how you can adapt these high tech ideas with your own team.
SUCCESS CDs - How to script a winning mindset.
One of the most common techniques used by the CEP is to have the cadets create Success CDs. Whether it is for an upcoming athletic competition, final exam, obstacle course challenge, or marksmanship test, CEP has cadets write out their specific goals and why they want to achieve them. They then have the cadets create a detailed script outlining exactly what they should be focusing on to achieve their specific goals.
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The cadet selects a motivating track of music that is played in the background as they record themselves reading their success script. When mixed together, the cadet then has a customized visualization CD that they can listen to regularly as they mentally prepare for their challenge.
What you can do:
You too can have your athletes write out a script of how they want to think and feel when they compete. Have them read it daily, especially before games - or have them create a CD with background music that they can listen to often.
Team Captains Network Members: Click on the link below for detailed directions on creating a Success Script - and see an actual example used by an athlete whose script helped her make the U.S. National Team.
http://www.teamcaptainsnetwork.com/members/100.cfm
ALPHA CHAMBER - Seeing is believing.
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In a relaxed state, the cadet then watches a huge projection screen in front of him. The CEP uses a helmet camera to video record a variety of real situations the cadet will find himself in. For instance, the helmet cam has been used with quarterbacks as they come up to the line of scrimmage to help them effectively scan opposing defenses so that they can make their reads correctly.
The dreaded Obstacle Course has also been filmed using the helmet cam to help cadets get a real feel for the challenges of the course. Being able to successfully experience the situations multiple times in their minds builds the cadets' confidence and ultimately prepares them for the rigors of the real life events.
What you can do:
You too can guide your athletes through visualizations of how you would like to perform for upcoming competitions. Have them imagine themselves at various points of the competition performing successfully. Without your own helmet cam, it is best to have your athletes visualize from an internal perspective - which means seeing the whole situation from their own eyes, rather than watching themselves perform as if on TV.
DYNAVISION BOARD - Performing under stress.
The board you see to the right is the DynaVision Board. This flat panel is made up of over a 100 individual lights. The lights can flash on and off in a variety of speeds, frequencies, and patterns.
Like the arcade game Whack-a-Mole, the cadet must spot the light and quickly touch it before it disappears. The board can be set to operate at higher speeds to maximize perceptual acuity.
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Further, the CEP staff will increase the stress of the activity by blaring music and/or having the cadet count backwards from 100 by threes while doing the activity. And if that isn't enough chaos and challenge, they will also sometimes have the person try to complete the activity while standing on a balance board.
Obviously, this high state of stress is designed to approximate the chaotic conditions of battle to see if the cadet can still maintain his composure while trying to quickly perceive and act upon appropriate stimuli.
What you can do:
Some baseball and softball coaches working on perceptual ability write numbers on the ball to see how well their players can identify them when hitting. You can also have your athletes peform their sport skills while squirting them with a water bottle.
The whole key is to see if your athletes can maintain their focus on the task at hand despite the distractions and chaos going on around them.
MENTALLY READY FOR BATTLE
Ultimately, because skills like concentration, composure, and mental toughness are so critical to a soldier's success and survival, the Army invests the time and resources to train them with their cadets.
Similarly, while your athletes lives don't hang in the balance, you too can adapt the cutting edge strategies used by the Center for Enhanced Performance to create more mentally tough athletes who are ready to successfully battle on the playing fields.
For more information on the Army's Center for Enhanced Performance visit: