Gold for Biofeedback

Abhinav Bindra was determined to do whatever it took to win the Olympic Gold for India in 2008. He became the first ever to win the medal for shooting (Men’s 10m Air Rifle) for his country. It was India’s first gold medal for any sport in the Olympics since 1980. To prepare for this event, Abhinay accumulated over 150 hours of training on the various modalities of biofeedback and neurofeedback. Sports psychologists are aware of how emotional states impede technical skill execution. The training involved teaching how to control breathing and heart-rate, eliminating excess tension in muscles, eliminate fluctuation between sympathetic/parasympathetic states during triggering, stopping the inner monologue, and sharpening the focus and reaction time. Abhinay found skin conductivity and temperature control biofeedback to be very helpful. Neurofeedback was used to improve focus and to quiet the mind. With biofeedback, the psychologists do not train the athlete to execute the skill, but rather train the athlete to prepare to execute the skill. An example is to train the athlete to enter the proper state 3-5 seconds prior to performing the event. Even elite athletes have lots of room for improvements and can clearly benefit from a combination of biofeedback and neurofeedback.