Stability is the ability to stay focused during a physical movement or personal action.
Stability requires balance while keeping concentration high and is defined by Balance, Strength, Focus, Cognitive Control, Core, Body Awareness, Mental Toughness.
Sustained attention, response inhibition, working memory, and category formation can be categorized under the principle of stability in the 3Y’s. These can be stimulated and improved with tasks performed with the Y System using the Y Base.
Sustained Attention
The basic ability to look at, listen to, and think about on- and off-court tasks over a period of time. Performing the same exercise for a substantial period stimulates and improves attention skills and gets the individual into a learning zone.
All teaching and learning depends on it. Without attention, new learning simply does not happen, and issues of understanding and memory are irrelevant.
Response Inhibition
The ability to inhibit one’s own response to distractions.
Example: two players are playing a match in total stadium silence and someone suddenly shouts. One player loses attention while the other does not.
Discipline and training with different adversities is the base of the Y System, where response inhibition is stimulated and teaches the individual to stay focused while outside factors happen.
Working Memory
The ability to remember instructions or keep information in the mind long enough to perform tasks. We use simple working memory when we go through a sequence of exercise patterns and keep it in mind when we actually perform the drill, or when we find ourselves in a life situation we’ve already experienced.
Working memory is the sketchpad of the mind where we put things to think about and manipulate.
Category Formation
The ability to organize information, concepts, and skills into categories. It forms the cognitive basis for higher-level abilities like applying, analyzing, and evaluating concepts and skills.
In sports and real life, going through a series of the same tasks repeatedly — as the Y System philosophy teaches — trains the individual to be ready, recognize, and categorize when opportunity presents itself. Categories are the basis of language and organization of the world.
