Cognitive development is the process of refining the human brain’s ability to perform tasks related to identifying and processing information, solving problems, overcoming obstacles, making decisions instantly, and building and maintaining healthy memories.
Cognition or one’s awareness of their surroundings is all-encompassing. It not only involves people’s senses but also all of their physical and mental faculties.Because of the special nature of cognition, the scope of fully developed cognitive skills, also known as “cognitive skills training,” usually includes the motor, psychological or mental, and social aspects.
We mentioned cognitive skills earlier, but what exactly are they?
Cognitive skills refer to the set of abilities that allows a person to detect and process environmental factors and conditions then seamlessly integrate them with the information they already know.
While competing, for instance, an athlete typically takes full advantage of these most common cognitive skills:
● Attention or visual attention: This is the ability to identify or prepare to identify an object, a location, a pattern, or characteristics (e.g., colour, size, etc.) while focusing on a visual target ( corner apex, in this case). Visual attention is utilised in real-life environments and visualised situations (i.e., imagined scenarios).
● Visual processing and tracking: This refers to the process of moving your eyes from one target to another while keeping visual focus on the object you are looking at. A great example is At the start of a race being aware of where all the cars are as well as focusing on driving at 100%.
● Focus: This is the ability to direct and streamline your attention to accomplish a goal, whether it is observing a visual target, executing a task, or preparing to respond to an unknown but expected stimulus. Focus can apply to the immediate, such as attending to tasks you need to complete or obstacles you must overcome or filter out at present. It can also apply to the bigger picture, like concentrating on a strategy for a race, a season, or any extended duration of time.
● Processing and decision-making speed: This is the speed at which your brain detects and processes information. You then decide what course of action to take immediately after processing the information. Processing and decision-making speed may require athletes to use all of their senses, along with their ability to focus their attention and strategic skills.
It is worth mentioning that cognitive skill levels may vary, depending on the sport an athlete plays. A sport like tennis, for example, may require more visual tracking training compared to rowing or weight lifting.
Fact:Athletes constantly train to maintain peak physical fitness and retain as much muscle memory as possible. But physical training can also benefit from a holistic approach that takes cognitive development into account. Here are the many ways in which cognitive training can benefit athletes:
● Improves an athlete’s ability to work under pressure: With heightened focus and faster decision-making capabilities, athletes are more equipped to make the optimal decision (e.g., to make the right move) to gain an advantage over their competitors.
● Helps build an athlete’s self-confidence: Cognitive development allows athletes to know their abilities, improve their skills, and train to their full potential, thereby instilling self-confidence, allowing them to believe they can rise above the competition.
● Provides stronger focus that leads to better discipline: With better concentration, athletes are in a better position to manage distractions and other external factors to pursue their goals.
● Aids in recovery and facilitates learning from mistakes: Cognitive development prepares athletes to respond to stimuli and gives them the tools to review, analyse, and learn from their mistakes.
● Helps athletes manage their emotions: With cognitive training, athletes can learn techniques to handle their emotions better, especially when they are under pressure, just experienced a loss, or have been criticised. It also helps them become more sensitive to the emotions of their coaches, teammates, and other people in their support network.
Much has been written about how cognitive skills training can be advantageous for athletes playing physical sports. But what about motorsport? Can race car drivers hone the same cognitive skills to become winners? Let us find out.
Cognitive training teaches drivers the techniques to get into the “zone” where their focus levels are the highest. These tactics also help the drivers maintain their concentration for longer periods while blocking unnecessary distractions.
Accurate visual processing and tracking are key to motorsports victory. Not only do the best drivers keep an eye on the racing lines and driving techniques, but they also have to deal with other drivers battling for position throughout the race. Through cognitive development, drivers can learn to process all the visual cues in their direct line of sight and periphery more efficiently.
Synchronising motor and auditory functions is important in some sports, including motorsport. The pitch of the engine, any possible vibrations or unusual noises and constant updates from the crew via one’s helmet radio can be a lot to take.Cognitive skills training can help drivers improve their auditory processing skills, allowing them to use on-track noises to their advantage.
Whether you want to sharpen your pre-race tactics, fine-tune your race strategy (tyre/fuel management), or just weigh the pros and cons of choosing the right tires when it’s changing conditions , cognitive development helps enhance your logic and reasoning skills.
Every tenth of a second matters in motorsport. Quite literally, any inaction or delay indecision-making can lead to a loss of position or, worse, an accident or equipment failure. Cognitive development helps race car drivers process information faster, evaluate their options, and stay calm so they can make the correct decision in a matter of seconds, even while under pressure.
Cognitive skills training allows drivers to employ visualisation techniques to study racetracks. From memorising new techniques such as braking, new circuits or cars, developing a sharp memory can be a great tool to have for any race car driver.
Here at Focus Driver Performance, we offer the Motorsport Mind Gym, the first one of its kind in Australia. Our Motorsport Mind Gym that uses machinery such as the Neurotracker, Reflexion and Batak reaction board, features the following cognitive development programmes:
● Cognitive Assessment and Development
● Remote Cognitive Development
Get in touch with us today to know more about Focus Driver Performance’s cognitive development programmes.