S2 Cognition Podcast

Alec details his most recent article about “Building the perfect Quarterback” for The Athletic, friend of the S2 podcast, Kirk Cousins’ recent journey and the Netflix special, and how cognition and player development at the highest level have to be intertwined.

You can follow Alec on Twitter - @Alec_Lewis

We are joined by Head of Skill Development at the Carolina Hurricanes and former NHL player Peter Harrold. Peter has firsthand experience of what it’s like to play in one of the most dynamic sports, moving at top speed, while handling a stick and dodging other human bogies hunting you down. Peter details how hockey players are more skilled than ever, are skating at top end speed like never before – in his words: the game is faster than it’s ever been which is why understanding the cognition and hardwiring of a player’s brain and how he processes information is so vital.

Fighter pilot Jeff Brandon, call sign "Vader", describes operating in a unique, fast environment as a Jet pilot. He paints a picture of the characteristics pilots face and the extreme demands in which pilots have to perform. He also details rapidly processing visual information, making a quick decision, and then executing that decision and how the S2 evaluation brought new insight into understanding how he makes split-second decisions 40,000 feet in the air.

S2 Co-Founders Scott Wylie and Brandon Ally answer questions about the "test", the start of the company, and the science behind it all. #S2truthersunite

Amanda walks through the softball pitching evaluation in a sequential order to understand more in depth about the processes that we are evaluating. She provides beautiful feedback and new insight on how each of these cognitive processes impact performance on the diamond at all levels. We also dive into the power of breaking down a pitcher’s unique pattern of cognitive advantages and disadvantages which gives you the ability to understand the ‘why’ behind a pitcher’s struggles and a pitcher’s exceptional capabilities.

Dr. Ted Bashore dives into two critical components of athletes split-second decision making: accuracy and speed. All of human performance can be impacted by tradeoffs between performing fast and performing accurately. There are often conflicts between speed and accuracy such that trying to perform a task really fast can often lead to risk of making more mistakes. Similarly, trying to be too cautious and a focus on being accurate can slow your performance speed. He explains how knowing this information about your athletes can help coaches and front offices understand and predict athletes on field/court/ice decision making.

Interested in hearing Ted's first episode, check it out on Apple, Spotify, or Youtube.

Dr. Ted Bashore addresses the difference between simple and choice reaction time and how they manifest in sports. He also addresses why simple reaction time does not predict in-game decision making or separate elite athletes from average athletes. Be ready for a history lesson on reaction time in sports with Dr. Ted Bashore!

Dr. Geoffrey Woodman details what Perception Speed or "Visual Processing Speed" is and how it reveals itself in everyday performance, and in high speed dynamic environments. We also discuss the way in which "Perception Speed" shows up in different sports such as football, basketball, soccer, hockey, and tennis. Dr. Woodman then dives into the scientific literature and what it says about improving "Perception Speed" in the context of your sport.

Coach Bobby Buchanan of High and Inside Softball joins the S2 Cognition Podcast today. He's also the Director of Scouting for Prospect Wire Softball, and Director of Performance for Bombers Fastpitch Softball. We dive into his experience with using the S2 Cognition Evaluation, how softball players can pinpoint their development work when it comes to decision-making in the batters box and on the mound, and how knowing your S2 score will change the softball recruiting world.

Coach Dub Maddox of @UnionFootball joins the S2 Podcast and we discuss the most important cognitive processes that a high school QB has to use on the football field, how that aligns with our findings of Colligate and NFL QB’s and their decision-making skills, how he's specifically worked on training “on-the-field” decision-making in quarterbacks, and how everyday coaches can implement these developmental strategies in their practices.

For more info on R4 Training, visit this website: https://www.r4footballsystem.com/