Sports | Mr. G's Mind

Several years ago, I came across a study from an amazing Australian psychologist, Dr. Brian Costello. While undergoing treatment for cancer, he discovered that he could reduce his need for pain medication by focusing on a fluorescent yellow-green colored dot.

In his research, he learned that it was not only the benefit of focusing and quiet time, as in meditation, but also the specific frequency from the resultant afterimage (in this case in the violet spectrum). An afterimage is the secondary color that is seen against the white background when viewing the fluorescent yellow-green image.

The yellow-green dot actually caused the brain to produce alpha brainwaves. When alpha brainwaves are produced, one experiences a heightened sense of relaxation and pleasure, thus his pain relief.

I was skeptical at first, but made up a fluorescent yellow-green dot and began practicing. For six days straight, I used the disk for about 15 minutes, two times a day. Six days into it, something happened, I felt something very different.

I began to feel a warm sensation in my legs, and then it moved to the base of my spine, up into my chest and into my head. It felt so amazing that I remember thinking “is this legal?” The sensation lasted for several minutes. I felt immense pleasure and relaxation. This crazy idea really works!

My brother said that my ‘kundalini’ had been awakened. I think that the two hemispheres of my brain were at the same alpha frequency – in other words, I was producing pure alpha brainwaves.

I had recently completed a week-long boot camp in sports psychology, and thought that this concept would do well to relax athletes prior to performing.

After some trial and error, I designed and packaged an Alpha Disk, specifically designed for golfers, but could be used by anyone to relax and improve any performance: sports, taking a test, dancing, or musical performances for example. In short, if stress is reduced improvement takes place.

Below is the AlphaWAVE Disk. I called the package “Fry One On.” As when someone hits a ball hard, they ‘smoke or sizzle’ it. Plus, it looked like a fried egg!

The package included two disks, two smaller disks and instructions.

The smaller dots can be placed on gloves, rackets, bats, etc., as a quick reminder to relax and recover when under performance pressure.

An independent pilot study, commissioned by Adidas, found that the intervention group shooting basketball free throws improved by 4.4% over the control group. It really works!

So this really works, then how come I can’t sell these? Well, apparently no one wants to spend 15 minutes a day over six days to learn how to produce alpha brainwaves.

Most humans just want to ‘pop’ a pill to feel or perform better – too bad!

Maybe my idea just isn’t ready to hatch yet.

Every once in a while a project morphs or leads into several different projects. An example is my hammerhead shark balance board Hammerhead Balance Board.

It’s made from a recycled desktop. I really wanted something different than a standard skateboard/surfboard shape, so I went with this design idea.

A balance board is like a skateboard but with a roller and track on its underside, instead of wheels. The board is 40″ long.

Just imagine a board that you stand on, with a movable fulcrum centered underneath. I decided that I would be less likely to break bones on this, as opposed to a skateboard – right!

Additionally, I thought once I improved my balance, I could add wheels to the balance board and it would morph into a skateboard.

Here is the roller that I will be using. I ordered this one from Vew-Do.

While building the board, I decided that I needed a balance paddle. So begins another project. I felt that I needed a safety stick (like a cane), so that I would not tip over while on the board.

Here is the balance paddle under construction. It’s made with 4 old ceiling fan blades glued together (a fan blade pair on each end) and laminated pallet wood for the paddle shaft.

I’ll show you how to build the paddle in a future post as well.

The balance board is not even complete, and now I am making a paddle too. But wait, there is more!

One morning I awoke from a dream and realized that I had been flying on the back of a hammerhead shark. So very cool I thought, “How could I do this – I mean really do this.”

Then it hit me, add a hydrofoil wing to the bottom of the board. If I could add the wing, I could literally fly above the water on the back of a hammerhead shark – a dream come true!

Hey, guess what? I am building a hydrofoil wing. I ordered this cool kit from Clearwater Hydrofoils. Of course it has to be fiberglassed, but I will learn a new skill. One post soon, I’ll show you that process too.