Grasping your athlete’s response to cognitive training is essential for fine-tuning performance enhancement strategies. Among the plethora of metrics, we emphasize the “Big Three”—reaction time, variation, and accuracy—as central to your decision-making process. Evaluating these metrics collectively rather than individually is crucial. Improvement in all three metrics indicates successful adaptation, while no improvement or deterioration suggests a need to reassess and adjust your approach, considering their interconnectedness.
How to Respond Based on The Big 3
When the Big 3 Have Improved Significantly (Over 5%)
An improvement exceeding 5% in reaction time, variation, and accuracy signifies successful adaptation to the current training stimulus. To further cognitive development in your athletes’ next training program, you can:
When Performance in the Big 3 Has Not Improved by 5% or Shows No Change
If there’s no improvement or the changes are less than 5%, it indicates a plateau or minimal adaptation. In such cases:
Making Decisions Based on Key Metrics
Directly assessing the “Big Three” metrics—reaction time, variation, and accuracy—is crucial for tailoring an athlete’s cognitive training. Significant improvements suggest readiness for more challenging tasks or new demands. If not, the strategy may need tweaking. Decisions should hinge on these indicators to effectively push or adapt an athlete’s training.
We suggest starting by focusing on the Big Three to efficiently assess progress and make informed decisions for future training adaptations. As your skills improve, you can move on to advanced analysis.
Learn more about advanced analysis 👉 here.
Baselines Colour Legend:
Purple: Improved Performance
Blue: No Change
Grey: Deteriorated Performance