From FiveThirtyEight, “How An Armless Archer Trains His Brain To Win Olympic Medals.”
Paralympian Matt Stutzman, born without arms, has become a world-class archer by shooting with his feet. He trains in remote Iowa, where his only competition is in his mind. So he imagines matches in extreme detail, from the feel of the wind to the sound of a crowd—a technique scientists have shown can register in the brain as if he were physically there.