Virtual reality helps hone QB-chasing skills
McKinney uses NeuroTrainer device to compete, sharpen mental acuity
Eyes darting and his concentration intensifying, Texans veteran middle linebacker Benardrick McKinney zeroed in on his rapidly moving target.
Instead of chasing down a jet sweep or matching wits with crafty quarterbacks and offensive coordinators, the Texans’ defensive signal caller is facing an altogether different challenge that tests and boosts his peripheral vision, memory and cognitive skills.
McKinney is involved in a futuristic training ground that combines neuroscience and virtual reality skills to optimize his mental performance and enhance his athletic skills with a special emphasis on eye-hand coordination. One of the hardest-hitting linebackers in the game, the 6-5, 250pound former Pro Bowl selection is using San Francisco-based NeuroTrainer’s virtual-reality and neuroanalytic based training program this offseason to hone his reactions and skills.
Wearing an Oculus Quest headset, McKinney goes through a series of exercises called PADL (Perception Action Decision Loop) that targets three areas of the brain: the occipital lobe, prefrontal cortex and parietal lobe. It’s designed to improve vision, focus and decision-making in pressure situations.
Well-versed in technology, McKinney is designated with a green dot on his helmet and radio device as the Texans’ designated defensive signal caller. It’s his job
to relay the signals from defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver, and NeuroTrainer is enhancing how McKinney goes about his work as the quarterback of the Texans’ defense.
“I’m really liking it,” McKinney said in a telephone interview. “It’s a nice, smart, newer invention. I can see how in the future neuro training will help a lot of teams. They’ll have players do it for the concussion protocol and just improving their reaction time. It actually works on your reaction speed and helps you as a football player, or any athlete.
“Being able to do something like this is pretty key at my position, but I think it would help any position with their reaction time and focusing on peripheral vision and doing it at a high level. It’s definitely making my brain stronger and better able to multitask. It’s an awesome thing. I can see in the future a lot of programs and neuro training to help football players or any sport.”
In one exercise, McKinney’s reactions are tested as electronic balls are fired toward his head akin to a charging football lineman. McKinney has to press buttons to stop the incoming ball, with his reactions timed. In another sequence, McKinney has to track a jumble of rapidly moving objects and then select which object was the original one selected.
The Chronicle demoed the NeuroTrainer, which was designed by Dr. David Nyquist, going through the same exercises McKinney has been practicing. The exercises were challenging, especially with how fast the action unfolds.
“It’s very intense, the first one you explained, the reaction and speed to time the ball and see the ball thrown at you and press the buttons before it gets close to your face,” McKinney said. “In another one, it’s really hard to look to your left and right and count the drones. You have a lot to track. It’s really hard and really intense.”
The artificial intelligence of the NeuroTrainer adapts as the athlete progresses through the training system. And the system collects brain performance and neurocognitive data with an intention of improving focus.
“We’ve done a tremendous amount of science and work connecting the brain to human performance and how to exercise the brain and have had very beneficial outcomes to human performance,” NeuroTrainer CEO David
Aufhauser said in a telephone interview. “Our vision is to allow athletes to have a high level of athletic performance training their brain and their body. Mental fitness is such a key, core component of how athletes achieve their goals, and yet no one has been able to provide athletes with a way to train their brain and mind, and that’s what we do.
“That includes peripheral vision and decision-making that yield to better outcomes on the court, on the field and in the arena and translate it to real data and real scores. There are so many ways this science can be applied to sports.”
Because McKinney is in a leadrest ership position on the field, other players look to him to provide insight into the offensive strategy and how to adapt to intricate schemes designed to confuse the defense and catch them offguard. The virtual reality training could provide a boost to McKinney’s game one year after he recorded 101 tackles, one sack, 5½ tackles for losses, one forced fumble and two fumble recoveries.
“A player like Benardrick is in a very unique position more than the average player because he is the signal caller,” Aufhauser said. “From a mental perspective, he’s got to be thinking about the play coming in from the sideline and how he communicates it to the of the team and thinking about what the next play the offense is running and how he will react. Those types of multitasking and brain function processes all at once to do a better job of making fast decisions. Multi-tasking can be trained, and it can be improved.”
Due to the coronavirus pandemic and social distancing guidelines, NFL training facilities remain closed, so players are working out on their own. McKinney has made a speedy recovery from arthroscopic ankle surgery in February.
“I’m feeling great,” McKinney said. “I’m working hard and trying to maintain my body, work on flexibility, work on explosion and get in shape to be ready whenever we get the call to get back together.”
McKinney also is staying sharp through a NeuroTrainer challenge with other professional athletes. He’s in a mental fitness competition that raises money for the Save The Children nonprofit organization.
Among the athletes McKinney is competing against: Los Angeles Rams punter Johnny Hekker, Tennessee Titans safety Kevin Byard, Rockets player Robert Covington, Boston Celtics players Grant Williams and Tacko Fall, Texans Rangers player Matt Duffy, professional soccer players Aubrey Bledsoe and Abby Erceg, WNBA players Kelsey Plum, Jasmine Taylor and Chiney Ogwumike, and water polo player Maggie Steffens.
“It’s a very cool thing during these hard times to be able to help kids and help people and raise money,” McKinney said. “There are a lot of big names, a lot of athletes involved. We have a platform to put it out on social media and raise money.
“I just want to encourage more athletes and whomever is out there to look into raising money and get involved and try to help people through these hard times. It’s a great honor for me, and I’m having a lot of fun.”
McKinney is a video game enthusiast. He enjoyed playing the Creed boxing game on the Oculus Quest headset.
“The boxing game is a great workout,” he said. “It’s crazy with the way you move and punch. It’s almost identical to being in a real boxing match. It’s like I’m really fighting.”
McKinney envisions a future with even more training exercises specifically tailored to individual sports. For example, a quarterback could read the defense and have his knowledge of the playbook, personnel and decisions tested on the fly.
NFL teams are adapting to more technology this offseason, including virtual meetings on Zoom and Discord with no in-person practice sessions or meetings due to the global health crisis.
“Virtual reality training is very cool,” McKinney said. “It’s unbelievable how real these things look. We’re staying on top of our game with Zoom and the virtual meetings and working together as a team. You have to embrace technology and adapt to new situations, and that’s what we’re all doing.”