NeuroTrainer helps the St. Ignatius Girls Basketball team to focus and shake off mistakes
- St. Ignatius Wildcats
- San Francisco, CA
- Fall 2021
THE CHALLENGE
“The number one challenge I see with young athletes today is a lower work ethic and lower attention spans” Coach Fok explains. “5 years ago, I might have 3 or 4 kids zoning out during practice. Now it’s closer to 9 or 10 who have focus or attention problems.”
Not only do more athletes have trouble staying focused during practices, the amount of time that it takes to get them into a focused state is increasing. That means more time wasted in practices.
“It’s super hard getting girls to shift from school to practice. I spend a lot of time repeating the same thing at practices over and over. In a 2-hour practice, I might lose 30 minutes due to lack of attention and repeating the same things over and over.”
KEY CHALLENGES
- 75% of athletes have attention problems
- Zoning out, staring into space, not remembering drills
- 30 minutes lost each practice due to lack of focus
THE SOLUTION: NeuroTrainer to improve focus?
Coach Fok introduced NeuroTrainer to her team in 2021 and trained over the course of the fall basketball season. Maya had exposure to brain training in her work so she was interested in seeing how it would be picked up with her athletes. To keep engagement high, she trained herself regularly, and in fact used it herself to help with her coaching.
TRAINING PROFILE
- 13 athletes training over 4 months during 21/22 regular season
- Average 2.5x 8-minute sessions per week
Before practices & games - Average time in headset: 240 mins
“I think because it’s an area of your game that’s important but we don’t really work on it in practice, it’s cool to have time and space to work on this part of your game that can help separate us from other teams. Attention Flow helped improve peripheral vision and helps you recognize things without having to look directly at them. It helps you recognize your teammates out of the corner of your eye”
As a coach and a coaching staff, I think we’ve seen the biggest difference in how they’re responding to us when we bring up new things or new activities, new drills. Their attention and focus and ability to focus and execute is a lot better.
THE RESULT: 30 minutes saved during practices
Where scrimmaging had been a challenge with athletes not making the right reads and adding extra turnovers, suddenly the players were more inspired and locked in.
“It helps you see the full court, and helps especially on defense, having your eyes on your man and the ball.”
“It helps with reaction times and being able to get a rebound and pass to our teammates quicker.”
“It helps me in game like situations because I have to be aware of everything that’s going on - where the ball is, where my teammates are and what I need to be communicating with my team. What NeuroTrainer helps me maintain and balance my focus in specific scenarios to make sure that I’m doing the best for my team.
KEY RESULTS
- Got 30 minutes back on 2-hour practices = better skill training
- General awareness was better
- Sharp crips passes, better and quicker reactions
- Adaptability on the fly with Improved sense of urgency
“I think because it’s an area of your game that’s important but we don’t really work on it in practice, it’s cool to have time and space to work on this part of your game that can help separate us from other teams. Attention Flow helped improve peripheral vision and helps you recognize things without having to look directly at them. It helps you recognize your teammates out of the corner of your eye”
