Head In The Game, Brandon Sneed
Head In The Game, Brandon Sneed
14 Rating(s)
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Head In The Game
The Mental Engineering of the World's Greatest Athletes

Author: Brandon Sneed

Narrator: Nicholas Tecosky

Unabridged: 10 hr 41 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: HarperAudio

Published: 02/28/2017


Synopsis

An intriguing blend of science and sports that explores how some of the worlds greatest athletes are utilizing the last frontier of performance-enhancing technology—the mental mapping and engineering of their own brains—for peak performance, and what it means for the future of athleticism, sports, and the rest of us.Moneyball showed how statistics were revolutionizing baseball. The Sports Gene revealed the role genetics play in sports. Now, Head in the Game examines the next evolution: how mental engineering—the manipulation of the cognitive processes of the brain—can make gifted athletes even better. For years, technology—from EEG (electroencephalogram) to fMRI (Functional magnetic resonance imaging) to video games, tablets, and personal data collection devices—have been used with soldiers to understand their physical and mental functioning. Touching on brain functionality vital to sports—both the ""hard"" (coordination, stimuli processing, functional memory, decision-making, load-processing) and the ""soft"" (emotion regulation, visualization, psychology, mindfulness)—this tech is now being adopted by scores of championship franchises and top athletes—including scrappy underdogs forced to innovate and elite players looking for an advantage. Star NFL quarterbacks Russell Wilson and Tom Brady, the NBA’s Kyle Korver, and Olympic volleyball champion Kerri Walsh are using mental engineering to up their game. It’s not luck that has transformed the San Antonio Spurs into a formidable force—it’s science, Sneed demonstrates. As mental engineering becomes widespread—taking athletes who are already freaks of nature and making them better—the impact on the multi-billion dollar sports industry will be dramatic on players, managers, trainers, owners, and even fans. Interviewing athletes and coaches, visiting training camps and sports science firms, Brandon Sneed offers a firsthand, on-the-ground look at this exciting breakthrough that has the potential to transform to transform the game—and all our lives.

About Brandon Sneed

Brandon Sneed is an author and journalist. He recently joined B/R Mag at Bleacher Report as a features writer. Previously, his stories have appeared in Outside, ESPN The Magazine, and more, and have twice been not-able selections in Best American Sports Writing. When Brandon’s not on the road, his home base is Greenville, North Carolina, where he lives with his wife, toddler son, the baby in his wife’s belly, and their two dogs, a Jack Russell Terrier and a half—Jack Russell half—pit bull. For news about Brandon’s work and events, or just to say hey, visit brandonsneed.com.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Matthew on January 02, 2025

I got this book in a Goodreads Giveaway several years ago but I don’t think that obliges me to leave a glowing review. There was some good content here, but I didn’t really enjoy reading it, and after leaving it untouched for over a year with a bookmark around page 130 I had to push myself to get to......more

Goodreads review by Bernie on April 04, 2017

There are many factors that influence whether an athlete can reach an elite level. Physical factors such as VO2 max (maximum oxygen consumption) and musculature have long been at the fore in the minds of coaches and trainers, but they’ve never told the full story. There are athletes who have the mus......more

Goodreads review by Jared on September 25, 2017

The mind is an amazing thing. Just ask any kung fu master or Tibetan monk. If you don't have either of those handy, this book can give you some insight. Head in the Game is a documentation of the nascent understanding of neuroscience, and some of the technology and other methods developed to improve......more

Goodreads review by Kenneth on March 10, 2017

Good Time This book is worth your time if you are interested in the study of improving the mind with technology. At some points it started to come off as an infomercial but the author brought the story back by showing real life examples of people's experiences with neurological training.......more

Goodreads review by Ryker on May 10, 2023

I liked this book though it wasn’t my favorite. It described different methods pro athletes use to gain a possible edge on opponents. The last few chapters where the best for me because it was stuff that you could most likely do at home to become a better athlete.......more