Rewiring one's brain for very high performance

Simple, but intricate, approach to being unnerved under the spotlight

Excerpt: "For years, Amber Glenn was one of the top figure skaters in the U. S.—and also its most inconsistent. She was the popular and prodigious talent who could cruise through her practices and charge out of the gate, only to stumble when it really counted. 

Then, at 25, Glenn did what few athletes with a reputation for crumbling under pressure ever manage. She figured it out.

This time last March, Glenn was crashing and burning on her way to a 10th-place finish in the world championships. One year on, she will take the ice in Boston this week as a favorite to win the world title for one simple reason: She hasn’t lost a single competition this season.

Glenn credits her stunning turnaround to a technique called neurotherapy, in which she literally trains her body for high-stakes situations, rather than hoping to push through with mantras. Willing herself to calm down wasn’t cutting it. Learning to manage her nervous system under competition conditions has worked out far better."