The brain and mind of Lionel Messi
What makes him so special?
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Neuro Athletes,
In the 2015 Copa del Rey final, football fans witnessed a spectacular and unforgettable scene.
At a little less than 20 minutes into the match between Barca and Athletic Bilbao, the ball was passed to Lionel Messi. With the ball at his feet and about 60 yards away from the goal, he reached a speed of 19.5 mph in just 2.73 seconds. With 3 defenders surrounding him, he decelerated and shook them off with 3 short controlled touches. As he enters the box, he performs an inside-out move, creating more than 5 feet of space from another defender and immediately kicks the ball, sending it through a group of players and straight into the goal, missing the keeper’s outstretched hand by barely 6 inches.
This “scientifically impossible goal,” as the commenters called it, happened in just a matter of 13 seconds since he got hold of the ball.
Primer
11-year old Lionel was sitting at the doctor’s office in Rosario, Argentina. He had just been told that he has growth hormone deficiency. If he doesn’t get a costly treatment, he will barely grow at all.
Since young, Messi has had only one dream — to be a professional footballer. At age 5, he began living with that goal in mind and nothing could stop him from achieving it — not even when he was diagnosed with growth hormone deficiency and was “too small to play” football. His strong mindset eventually made him more than just a professional footballer. And unlike other elites who are known for their physical prowess, Messi was famous for his ability to read the game and dictate it to his own tempo. From being considered too small to even make it as a professional, Messi never gave up. He followed his dreams and is now one of the greatest players of all time.
How did he do that?
“I don’t plan or anticipate my play,” he said. “I do everything through instinct.”
The process of developing instincts
When we’re learning a new skill, we go through 2 phases:
Deliberate practice. This is when new connections between the neurons (“synaptic connections”) that are associated with that skill form in the brain. During this time, an effort is needed to concentrate on every small part of the movement involved in order to improve one’s performance.
Automaticity. With more practice, the synaptic connections become stronger, and performing that skill becomes easier and eventually, automated.
One study looked at the brains of novice, expert, and elite archers performing a simulated archery task.
When performing the task, the brain activity of novices was more widespread in the brain areas involved in controlled motor plannings.
However, the brain activity of experts and elites was more focused on the areas involved in controlling movements.
This was described as “specialized processing” in which most of the planning and control processes are automated rather than executively controlled.
This automaticity — along with the memories of different game scenarios obtained from extensive experience — enables the experts and elites to make decisions quickly and efficiently by predicting and selecting the best moves during a game. In other words, they act on their instincts.
However, experts may stop engaging in deliberate practice and rely on automaticity when they have attained an acceptable level of performance. Elites, on the contrary, are constantly engaged in deliberate practice to improve their performance.
This can be clearly seen in Messi:
“The day you think there are no improvements to be made is a sad one for any player.”
And Ronaldo:
“In my career, I’ve always worked hard in training and games. It’s hard work which achieves success.”
Let’s sum it up
The difference between a novice and an expert or elite is that the latter has a skill that was built with more than 10,000 hours of deliberate practice extended over more than a decade.
This difference in time allows experts and elites to acquire the ability to make predictive rather than reactive decisions to sporting scenarios.
Elite athletes never give way to complacency, which sets them apart from less-accomplished individuals.
Take away: what it means for me
While talents and physical attributes may contribute to good athletic performances, having the right mindset is crucial to achieving and sustaining higher-level athletic performances. Here are some key points to encounter when taking on board the mindset of Messi:
Devote your life to something. For Lionel, life revolved around football, and he was willing to do anything to become a professional.
Never give up. Messi kept working every day to improve, even when faced with the loss of close relatives, or when he was told that he probably wouldn’t grow much more.
Take the chance when it presents itself. Messi decided to move to a new continent to follow his dream when he was only 13 years old.
Well folks that’s it from me. If you like this and want in-depth research on the neuroscience of high-performance please consider joining my premium membership.
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