In sports performance, we spend so much time talking about the tangible aspects of size, speed, and strength that we often overlook the colossal impact that the brain and the motor control system have on skill. Today, I had the pleasure of interviewing Zach Schonbrun. Zach wrote the book The Performance Cortex, which is a deep study into the often misunderstood ways that the brain impacts sports performance. In this episode we talk about how athlete brains differ from non-athletes, what is the real meaning of genius in athletes, and why promising new technology often doesn’t get adopted by elite athletes.
Timestamps
- 00:00:00 – Intro
- 00:01:28 – What is the role of the brain in sports?
- 00:07:13 – What types of genius are there in athletes?
- 00:13:05 – Federer
- 00:18:12 – Deception with body language in sport
- 00:22:15 – Downside of Habits
- 00:24:52 – How do you measure the Brain for Sports?
- 00:30:41 – What is sports IQ?
- 00:37:11 – How to improve the brain for sport
- 00:39:58 – deliberate practice
- 00:44:17 – The problem of over coaching
- 00:47:20 – Training Feel
- 00:52:42 – The purpose of a warmup
- 00:59:54 – Origin Story
- 01:07:31 – Why are sports teams hesitant to adopt useful tech?
- 01:14:59 – Individual athlete vs team adoption
- 01:17:07 – who is open to experimentation
- 01:17:49 – What is the next innovation in sports performance?
- 01:21:53 – Sense of Touch
Links and resources
- The Performance Cortex: https://amzn.to/4bRg1AK
- Zach on Twitter: https://x.com/zschonbrun
- Substack: https://zachschonbrun.substack.com/