A New Paradigm

Here’s a question for the sport psychology community: what is the underlying operational interface of the human peak performance state? What is the visual/cognitive/motor interface of the zone?

As a complete operating system it only makes sense that when your operating system is in its peak performance state it is also in an operational interface that is somehow more efficient and accurate than your normal operational interface. The fact that the human peak performance state not only involves a more efficient and accurate physical relationship between your operating system and the tennis environment but also a higher-order mental, emotional and spiritual relationship between your operating system and the tennis environment means that something you are doing at the core level of your operation is causal to the higher-order physical, mental, emotional and spiritual relationship you experience in your peak performance state.

Going at this higher-order relationship from a behavioral approach is the modern sport psychology paradigm, and although there is nothing wrong with this behavioral paradigm, it does not take into consideration the operational system dynamics that lie beneath the human peak performance state. They talk about everything but the operational dynamics of the human visual/cognitive/motor operating system. When they do mention the VCM system it’s only in the context of another old paradigm – “watch the ball, concentrate on the ball, hit the ball.”

One old paradigm basing its logic on another old paradigm.

Time for a new paradigm; a paradigm that goes directly to the underlying operational dynamics of the VCM operating system in its peak performance state.

Instead of trying to recreate the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual dynamics of the peak performance state, the PMP suggests recreating the operational dynamics underlying the peak performance state. Recreate the operational cause of the peak performance state and you will recreate the peak performance state itself with all the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual components included.

The point is – you have to be doing something different with your operational interface when you are in your peak performance state. We’ve discovered what that “something different” is, and we’re bringing it to the world of tennis. Some people think we’re crazy, but isn’t that what is always said when a new paradigm comes along?