It’s funny how nowadays, hardware and software are being used in all areas of human endeavour. How about sports?” the friend asked. “It is very common to use the word hardware for the body and classify the hardware specifications to make the cut in international competitions. NBA tournaments require basketball players of a certain height,” dad said. “What is the software then
in sporting parlance?” the friend asked again. “The brain and information processing potentials in athletes can be described as software. Sports like tennis, squash, badminton and table tennis demand exceptional perceptual processing, decision processing and effector processing,” dad said. “I don’t understand the processing stuff.
Could you explain perceptual processing?” the friend asked.
“Perceptual refers to visual, auditory and tactile cues, which act as a stimulus to the brain, that the athletes receive and require processing. The intensity of the stimulus received and the duration are vital for further processing,” mom explained.
“The sub-processes of perceptual processing like stimulus detection help to assess the environmental information and pattern recognition. They help to interpret performance-relevant aspects like tossing a ball, foot work, movement of a part or the body of the opponent, etc. The stimulus intensity and stimulus clarity are very important to detect them rapidly,” dad added.
“It is very similar to what the British Royal Air Force (RAF) did while training their pilots to detect enemy aircraft as soon as possible. They were shown slides of Luftwaffe, other enemy aircraft and their allies for just a fraction of a second to recognise and decide to go on the offensive or not.
A similar strategy was explored by warriors during a war, especially a fight that involved swords and spears. A close-quarter combat required a high-level of stimulus detection with maximum inputs from the enemy’s subtle movements to read their sinister intentions and lethal moves before they were obvious. Pattern detection would be used to decide on fighting or withdrawing because the warrior is outnumbered or his elephant/horse is being threatened by pointing a sword towards them,”
mom said.
“This processing is very important for a player to become an elite athlete. Former tennis player Ramesh Krishnan’s ability to prepare in advance, position himself and return the ball correctly was considered as the greatest pattern recognition and skill detection skills he possessed to frustrate John McEnroe, a world champion during his time,” dad said.
“The same would be true of Vishwanathan Anand, who can see ahead at least three moves of the opponent’s before they are made. The same with Prakash Padukone, who could recognise the shuttle and arm movement of a player to predict a shot before the opponent hits,” mom said.
“When Sachin Tendulkar sees the bowler, his hand position, release of the ball and fielders’ positions, he plans to send the ball with minimum effort towards the boundary. Funnily, the athlete may not be able to explain the processing except for the thoughts they had at that time. This pattern recognition and stimulus identification, which elite athletes recognise, process and use to the surprise of onlookers and opponents is called chunking,” dad said.
“Are these champions born or made?” the friend asked.
“Though the genetic predisposition gives the hardware — the ideal anthropometric condition of the body — it would always require years of training, nothing less than 10 years.
With four hours of training per day, six days a week for 12 months would be 1,150 hours per year for 10 years, approx 12,000 hours. The software is absolutely trainable and it is a gift the athlete gives himself and perhaps to his country. Even born-athletes need to be nurtured, and nothing is possible without it,” dad concluded.
— sparrc@gmail.com