i-BrainTech's visualisation tools could have application to goalkeeper performance enhancement.
Train Your Brain. Transform Your Game. The rhetoric splashed across i-BrainTech, a neuro-fitness data company that looks towards a future where brain training is placed upon the same transformative pedestal as physical exercise.
How do they aim to achieve this? i-Brain says it has created a “new era of training” in the form of a video game, controlled by the innate power of the mind and visualisation. This ground-breaking neuro-training game enhances footballers’ performance on the pitch, aids their return to action following injury and provides coaches with detailed analysis to manage players.
Adam Codron, the official UK Partner for i-Brain, described the company as a “gymnasium for the brain” and outlined its intricate processes, speaking to Goalkeeper.com as part of an ongoing process to explore the company’s methodology and application.
“We've isolated two brain regions,” he said. “The pre-frontal cortex at the front of your brain, which is responsible for your concentration, and the motor cortex, which is on the side of your head, and when activated during our game, is your power metric.”
This technology offers a “unique way to streamline the acquisition of motor skills and develop key cognitive capabilities” to improve decision-making for physical execution. The player puts on a brain sensory cap and the system calibrates to their specific brain patterns.
A training program with drills is selected and the player is asked to visualise completing each task. Whilst this happens, the system decodes the brain’s signals and provides feedback on the player’s ability to activate different regions of the mind. Both brain parts must be simultaneously activated for the player’s avatar to successfully perform. According to their website, the brain rearranges itself over time to “accommodate the rewarded brain activity.”
This data-driven visualisation is known as “Neurofeedback” and gives real-time reactions. It is an invaluable tool to “improve and automate specific behaviours, such as concentration, stress management, and planning of movement”, as Codron explains.
This feedback is given via visual or audio cues and teaches the player how to manipulate and control their brain activity. It also enhances and strengthens the connections in your brain through its plasticity. Durable connections and patterns develop a symbiotic relationship with rewarded brain activity. This leads to a smoother, more effective activation of the brain and better completion of mental tasks.
i-Brain training, and its generated muscle memory, theoretically allows for quicker actions on the pitch and higher performance. Despite its perceived complexity, it is an accessible, off-field training, based on repetition and memory commitment.
“Who doesn't need more confidence and understanding of what's going on?” asks Codron.
“We use AI feedback so that you don't need a neuroscientist to be able to see the data and understand it at the end of your sessions. Individuals have QR codes. They can keep their results on their phone. Your coach, teacher or psychologist can have access to all their patients and be able to track cognitive improvements.”
The company has also been praised for its rehabilitation software. “We’ve just won a big award with Juventus for rehabbing some first-team players returning from long-term injuries,” Codron remarked. “Visualisation can enhance return to play because you don't lose your muscle memory if you maintain it during your injury. There is gymnasium software that you can visually train. Then we move you to our football-specific platform where you train your shooting, passing, crossing and positional play.
Codron believes this technology could be especially beneficial for goalkeepers, due to their distinct need for concentration. “We look to work with goalkeepers at least two sessions a week for 20 minutes,” he explained. “We also have goalkeepers using our shorter programs, so say, five minutes as a brain activation platform.
“Without any load on the body, your brain doesn't know the difference between physical training and visualisation. The goalkeeper's brain will get the same output as if they were on the field. It is a complimentary training regime that doesn't put any load on the keepers but still gives them the repetitions to improve and be successful. We're happy to be of assistance for this specialist position.”
This links back to a recurring theme that we cover at Goalkeeper.com: the rethinking of decades of underappreciation of goalkeepers. Codron aims to support a position that has evolved into a more complex and layered role. He shares a sympathy and an understanding for goalkeepers in the modern era.
“Every team tries to play out from the back. The ability to pass, control, and understand their way through the press. All these things are now added factors that goalkeepers must understand. They're becoming more footballers than they ever had been previously. Improving tactical acumen, mental fortitude, and concentration is imperative for a goalkeeper.
“Once the goalkeeper makes a mistake, especially if it leads to a goal, the scrutiny is very different. You've got to be pretty mentally strong. We can assist in this capacity and track it, and show improvements in your mental capabilities over time using your brain data. In the past, if you were running a psychology session, you're still very reliant upon your patient to give you the answers to understand how effective you're being. We’re saying that your brain data is the most effective way of analysing and assessing. We get deeper into the minds of this specialist position and support them in the right way.”
i-Brain hopes to break the conventional bounds of coaching. Instead of removing emphasis from physical activity, it provides perspective to complement other physical forms of training. Codron hopes to eliminate the scepticism around brain training through collaboration and education. He already feels their work is forging a pathway to becoming a more commonly accepted principle.
“There's already a universal understanding between psychologists and the medical teams, that visualisation helps. There is an education process to this whole thing. We want to help people. The crux of our science stems from the regeneration of brain activity.
"We are working with performance coaches and academy directors about a package across all platforms. We're looking at being a part of learning about educating them, about keeping their brain healthy. This will be a key data set for us to share with clubs, which they need to get the best out of their players.”
“Not everyone offers an off-field solution. There's quite a lot of VR cognitive stuff on the field. Our real niche is we take the physical load off. We all realised how important our brain health is in achieving our potential, whether that is on a sports field, in a classroom, or at home with family.
"This data will be exceptionally important as we move forward. Insurance companies end up paying for cognitive rehabilitation the way they do with physical. I think this is a very viable route for clinics and hospitals. People can train using our software, and hopefully, this will get paid out.”
With clients in the UK, Germany, Italy, India, and Mexico, Codron outlined the ambition of i-Brain to expand within the footballing landscape. He described their goal as to become the “largest cognitive data bank in football” and a source that will “benefit everyone in the long term.”
Each system relies on the other and must be nurtured to maintain peak performance. By providing support to injured players, i-Brain casts significant importance on a player’s recovery, well-being and mental state.
