How to Warm Up... Your Brain?

The brain may be the control tower of the human body, but its warm-up often takes a back seat—or is completely ignored—in match preparation. Based on this observation, in his podcast "Neurocognifoot", French perceptual-cognitive training expert Greg Debs presented some simple tools for coaches. The goal? "To reconcile physical and cerebral warm-ups." For example: "The player will perform cross-over movements (the left elbow touches the right knee and vice versa) to warm up the right and left parts of the brain. It's also important to activate their vision with a simple exercise: the player, lying down, must trace an 8 with their finger, arm outstretched, and without moving their head." These are simple exercises, but very effective, according to the specialist. "I observe, in particular, with young players that they find it easier to get into a match, to concentrate, and to be attentive to what's happening in their environment."