BODY ZONE.
TOTAL RECALL MEMORY PLAYS AN IMPORTANT PART IN EQUESTRIAN SPORT, SO IN THE SECOND OF HER NEW SERIES ON BODY TRAINING, ANDREA OAKES LOOKS AT HOW TO DEVELOP ITS
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ompetitors must tackle complex dressage tests and jumping courses, all the while recalling coaches’ instructions and not just remembering but also reacting to the individual quirks of the horse they are riding. Yet while our minds will often multi-task with ease, as if on autopilot, our memory can also stutter and fail when we need it most. Many of us can relate to drawing a blank on the big day: ‘… and at ‘C’, track left. Or was it track right?’ Like all aspects of performance, however, memory can be developed and improved. By understanding how this very capable tool operates, we can learn how to nurture and prepare it for the season ahead.
HOW MEMORY WORKS To take us on a whistle-stop tour of the mechanics of the memory, chartered sport psychologist Jo Davies ( jdpsychology.co.uk) starts with the nuts and bolts. “Memory is the ability to take information in, to store it and to recall it at a later time – phases known as ‘encoding’, ‘storage’ and ‘retrieval’, she says. “The information we are currently aware of, or thinking about, forms our ‘short-term’ or ‘working’ memory. Many of these memories are retained for just 20-30 seconds and then quickly forgotten, but by consciously attending to this information, perhaps by repeating or writing it down, we can help to encode it to long-term memory. “Information in our long-term memory is largely 46 // Issue 2 2021 // BRITISH DRESSAGE
POWERS TO IMPROVE PERFORMANCE. outside of our awareness, but can be called into short-term memory (retrieved) as needed.” Jo explains that we create memories by strengthening existing connections, or growing new ones, between the neurons in our brain. If we fail to store information properly, however, or neglect to dust down memories and to review and rehearse what’s been filed away, things may be forgotten. There are further levels of complexity, she says. he memory for facts is thought to be a different system, controlled by different brain mechanisms, than the one used for life events,” she says. “Then there is ‘muscle memory’, where we consolidate a specific motor tas into memory through repetition so that it can be performed almost automatically. While retrieving facts and life events typically requires conscious thought, our memory for these well-rehearsed motor skills – such as mounting and dismounting – is unconscious.”
BRAIN GAMES So why does pressure tend to send this clever mental filing system into a spin? “During times of heightened stress, our adrenal hormones impair both short-term memory and retrieval,” says Jo. “If we are experiencing life stress or competition nerves, we are more likely to forget tests, courses or instructions. “We can improve our memory in pressurised situations
