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The Power of Thought - Part One

Adapted from "Competitive Sport Shooting - Practical Sport Psychology"
by Dr. Heinz Losel M.D. - 2nd Edition 1999 - ISSF Munich

The So-Called Russian Sleep Machine.
At the 1978 World Sport Shooting Championships in Seoul, the capital of South Korea, I served as the federation doctor for the German national team. In preparing for the championships, we studied the typical forms of behavior, ways of living, and last but not least, the specific diseases on this continent. Our studies also covered the climatic conditions of this region as well as the reprecussions of the local time change on the performance of our athletes.

A ten-hour time difference between Germany and South Korea means that a number of biological control systems and especially the wake-and-sleep center need several days to adjust to the changed time of day.

In sport medicine, there are naturally recommendations on how to accelerate the adaptation to changed time conditions. Physical activity correlating to the given local time is therefore advised, and if need be, a light sleeping pill is recommended. In my opinion, the latter is unsuitable for sport shooters. Due to the undesirable effects of such medication on the different phases of sleep and the vigilance of an athlete during morning training and competition times, a drop in performance can not be ruled out.

Perhaps there is another alternative, I thought, such as a device developed by Russian neurologists at that time and discussed in literature as the "Russian Sleep Machine". This device was based on the concept that the sleep center in the human brain can be stimulated by specific low-frequency electric impulses of low intensity which ultimately cause tiredness and promote the urge to sleep. The electric currents generated by a battery operated power unit are conducted to the brain, via the eyes, by means of a special close-fitting glasses.

A German company was licensed to build this device, and one such unit was kindly placed at my disposal for testing at the world championships. We first tested the apparatus for several weeks in my practice with quite some success. Sleeping disorders could particularly be improved with this unit in only a few days. Convinced of its practical use, I took it with me to South Korea.

(Go to Part Two)

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The contents of this site have the sole purpose of illustrating my experiences as an Olympic Shooting Coach. The information contained therein does not intend to constitute a "manifesto" or even a new "theorem" on Target Shooting.

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