Michael Mesches, PhD
Education: Dr. Michael Mesches earned his PhD in Biological Science, specializing in behavioral neuroscience, from the University of California, Irvine in 1994. He is currently Director of Research and Development at Arete Sports, LLC. His research focus is on the brain and human peak performance.Dr. Mesches is also an Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Colorado Denver Health Sciences Center. Approach: We are taking a unique approach to studying peak performance in tennis. Because we have the ability to actually place subjects in a peak performance state, for the first time we can study the substrates of peak performance. With our background in neuroscience, psychobiology, and sports vision, the Arete Sports research team is studying how the brain produces a peak performance state and how such a state improves not only the subject’s performance on the court, but also their enjoyment of tennis. Application: I have been working with Scott Ford on attaining a peak performance state on the tennis court since 2000. While working with Scott my USTA ranking increased from a 3.0 to 4.0. The level of enjoyment I now achieve on the court exceeds anything I previously thought possible. Conversely, the moments of frustration on the court have virtually disappeared. Based on my success on the tennis court, I decided to expand my use of the Parallel Mode Process to the martial arts (I had no previous training in any martial art). In December of 2007, I began training in Shaolin Kempo Karate and am currently a 3rd degree brown belt. Use of the Parallel Mode Process allows me to both rapidly learn the stylized forms of karate known as ‘kata’ and to compete effectively while sparring.
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