Study reveals batting performance lies in the brain
SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE: CPUT’S academic, Dr Sharhidd Taliep, says the study which uses an electro-encephalographic to measure brain activity answers the question: What makes a good batsman?
Thursday, 24 April 2014
Good batting performance lies in the brain.
This is the results of a study by Cape Town academics, which revealed that cricket batsmen have to clear their minds and focus on important cues from the bowler prior to the cricket ball being released, in order to correctly play the most appropriate stroke.
This study provides the first scientific evidence relating to skilled batting performance with mental preparation measured by brain activity.
The study was conducted by Dr Sharhidd Taliep of the CPUT’s Sport Management Department in collaboration with Dr Lester John of the University of Cape Town’s Medical Imaging Research Unit.
This group of researchers is the first in the world to publish brain-related perceptual research in cricketers.
Taliep, who is the study’s chief investigator, says an electro-encephalographic was used in the study to measure brain activity of skilled and less-skilled cricket batsmen.
He found that the brain is able to shut down irrelevant internal chatter in order to obtain an optimal mental state for batting performance. This irrelevant internal chatter competes for resources of the brain and skilled batsmen are better able to shut it out, allowing more energy to be focused on important processes.
Taliep says this study is the first to show this in reactive sports like cricket and the results could be applied to other reactive sports like baseball, tennis and squash, where it could be used to train and test athletes.
The article will be published in the international journal, Perception, at the end of April under the headline: “Sport Expertise: The role of precise timing of verbal-analytical engagement and the ability to detect visual cues”.
Written by Kwanele Butana
Email: butanak@cput.ac.za
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