How to Develop a Perfect Memory (18 page)

Everton reminds me of Eve; her action is tempting someone with an apple.

Score: Bryan Adams (2 = B; 1 = A). Complex image: I imagine Wendy Craig

walking slowly backwards down the driveway, tempting Bryan Adams with the lure of a crisp green apple. He is on his knees in beseechment, singing

'Everything I do I do for you'.

1910 Newcastle United vs Barnsley 2-0

Year: The tenth stage (1910) is the roundabout. Winner: Success at last for Newcastle United. I picture one of their most famous citizens, Spender, aka Jimmy Nail. Loser: Barnsley makes me think of barn dancing. Score: Bill

Oddie (2 = B; 0 = O). Complex image: I don't suppose that Jimmy Nail would readily accept an offer to barn dance with Bill Oddie, but I imagine them both doing a merry jig around the roundabout.

HOW TO STORE EXTRA INFORMATION

Sometimes there is more to the match than the final score reveals. In 1901, Spurs' 3-1 victory over Sheffield United was a replay, following a 2-2 draw. To memorize this extra detail, I imagine Charles Atlas (who is waiting for his supper, courtesy of Bob, my agent) beating on the goalposts crying, 'Order!'

In 1910, Newcastle were finally victorious after being runners up for three out of the five previous years. The 1-0 victory was, in fact, a replay, following a 1-1 draw. This sort of information is very easy to include in your complex image. All you have to do is add on an extra action to the storyline.

In this case, I imagine Bill Oddie being chased around the roundabout by a swarm of bees. This is the action of Arthur Askey, who represents 1-1 (A = 1; A = 1).

There is no real limit to the amount of facts that you can store. Enthusiasts memorize the entire line-up of each team, including substitutes, the goalscor-ers, the minute in which they scored, and no doubt the names of the referee's two children. If the will is there, it's perfectly possible. You just have to expand the geographical layout of your journey.

If you think all these images are ridiculous, I assure you that they are considerably more memorable than an uninviting mass of characterless facts and figures. I, for one, could not possibly begin to absorb huge amounts of raw, untreated information about football unless I used the techniques I have described.

Once you have committed the information to memory, you must spend some

time revising. Replay your 'video-tape' until you know the journey and all its little stories by heart. Highlight key landmarks along the way; they act as invaluable reference points when you want to access information quickly. If you automatically know where the 5th, 13th, 19th, and 26th stages are, for example, it makes locating the intervening stages so much easier.

If football's not your favourite sport, this method works equally well with other sporting information. You can use a simple journey to store data on horse racing, cricket, snooker, boxing, rugby, even haggis hurling if the facts are available.

REFERENCE TABLES

I have printed out below every FA Cup result since 1872, broken down into Year (stage), Winner (person), Loser (action), Score (person) to make it easier to memorize.

FA Cup RESULTS: 1872-1900

YEAR WINNER

LOSER

SCORE

1872

Wanderers

Royal Engineers

1-0

1873

Wanderers

Oxford University

2-0

1874

Oxford University

Royal Engineers

2-0

1875

Royal Engineers

Old Etonians

2-0 (1-1)

1876

Wanderers

Old Etonians

3-0 (0-0)

1877

Wanderers

Oxford University

2-0

1878

Wanderers

Royal Engineers

3-1

1879

Old Etonians

Clapham Rovers

1-0

1880

Clapham Rovers

Oxford University

1-0

1881

Old Carthusians

Old Etonians

3-0

1882

Old Etonians

Blackburn Rovers

1-0

1883

Blackburn Olympic

Old Etonians

2-1

1884

Blackburn Rovers

Queen's Park Glasgow

2-1

1885

Blackburn Rovers

Queen's Park Glasgow

2-0

1886

Blackburn Rovers

West Bromwich Albion

2-0 (0-0)

1887

Aston Villa

West Bromwich Albion

2-0

1888

West Bromwich Albion

Preston NE

2-1

1889

Preston North End

Wolverhampton Wanderers 3-0

1890

Blackburn Rovers

Sheffield Wednesday

6-1

1891

Blackburn Rovers

Notts County

3-1

1892

West Bromwich Albion

Aston Villa

3-0

1893

Wolverhampton Wanderers Everton

1-0

1894

Notts County

Bolton

4-1

1895

Aston Villa

West Bromwich Albion

1-0

1896

Sheffield Wednesday

Wolverhampton

2-1

1897

Aston Villa

Everton

3-2

1898

Nottingham Forest

Derby County

3-1

1899

Sheffield United

Derby County

4-1

1900

Bury

Southampton

4-0

1901

Tottenham Hotspur

Sheffield United

3-1 (2-2)

1902

Sheffield United

Southampton

2-1 (1-1)

1903

Bury

Derby County

6-0

1904

Manchester City

Bolton Wanderers

1-0

1905

Aston Villa

Newcastle United

2-0

1906

Everton

Newcastle United

1-0

1907

Sheffield Wednesday

Everton

2-1

1908

Wolverhampton Wanderers Newcastle United

3-1

1909

Manchester United

Bristol City

1-0

1910

Newcastle United

Barnsley

2-0 (1-1)

1911

Bradford City

Newcastle

1-0 (0-0)

1912

Barnsley

West Bromwich Albion

1-0 (0-0)

1913

Aston Villa

Sunderland

1-0

1914

Burnley

Liverpool

1-0

1915

Sheffield United

Chelsea

3-0

1920

Aston Villa

Huddersfield Town

1-0

1921

Tottenham Hotspur

Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-0

1922

Huddersfield Town

Preston North End

1-0

1923

Bolton Wanderers

West Ham United

3-0

1924

Newcastle United

Aston Villa

2-0

1925

Sheffield United

Cardiff City

1-0

1926

Bolton Wanderers

Manchester City

1-0

1927

Cardiff City

Arsenal

1-0

1928

Blackburn Rovers

Huddersfield Town

3-1

1929

Bolton Wanderers

Portsmouth

2-0

1930

Arsenal

Huddersfield Town

2-0

1931

West Bromwich Albion

Birmingham

2-1

1932

Newcastle United

Arsenal

2-1

1933

Everton

Manchester City

3-0

1934

Manchester City

Portsmouth

2-1

1935

Sheffield Wednesday

West Bromwich Albion

4-2

1936, Arsenal

Sheffield United

1-0

1937

Sunderland

Preston North End

3-1

1938

Preston North End

Huddersfield Town

1-0

1939

Portsmouth

Wolverhampton

4-1

1946

Derby County

Charlton Athletic

4-1

1947

Charlton Athletic

Burnley

1-0

1948

Manchester United

Blackpool

4-2

1949

Wolverhampton Wanderers Leicester City

3-1

1950

Arsenal

Liverpool

2-0

1951

Newcastle United

Blackpool

2-0

1952

Newcastle United

Arsenal

1-0

1953

Blackpool

Bolton Wanderers

4-3

1954

West Bromwich Albion

Preston North End

3-2

1955

Newcastle United

Manchester City

3-1

1956

Manchester City

Birmingham City

3-1

1957

Aston Villa

Manchester United

2-1

1958

Bolton Wanderers

Manchester United

2-0

1959

Nottingham Forest

Luton Town

2-1

1960

Wolverhampton

Blackburn Rovers

3-0

1961

Tottenham Hotspur

Leicester City

2-0

1962

Tottenham Hotspur

Burnley

3-1

1963

Manchester United

Leicester City

3-1

1964

West Ham United

Preston North End

3-2

1965

Liverpool

Leeds United

2-1

1966

Everton

Sheffield Wednesday

3-2

1967

Tottenham Hotspur

Chelsea

2-1

1968

West Bromwich Albion

Everton

1-0

1969

Manchester City

Leicester City

1-0

1970

Chelsea

Leeds United

2-1 (2-2)

1971

Arsenal

Liverpool

2-1

1972

Leeds United

Arsenal

1-0

1973

Sunderland

Leeds United

1-0

1974

Liverpool

Newcastle United

3-0

1975

West Ham United

Fulham

2-0

1976

Southampton

Manchester United

1-0

1977

Manchester United

Liverpool

2-1

1978

Ipswich Town

Arsenal

1-0

1979

Arsenal

Manchester United

3-2

1980

West Ham United

Arsenal

1-0

1981

Tottenham Hotspur

Manchester City

3-2 (1-1)

1982

Tottenham Hotspur

Queens Park Rangers

1-0 (1-1)

1983

Manchester United

Brighton & Hove Albion

4-0 (2-2)

1984

Everton

Watford

2-0

1985

Manchester United

Everton

1-0

1986

Liverpool

Everton

3-1

1987

Coventry City

Tottenham Hotspur

3-2

1988

Wimbledon

Liverpool

1-0

1989

Liverpool

Everton

3-2

1990

Manchester United

Crystal Palace

1-0 (3-3)

1991

Tottenham Hotspur

Nottingham Forest

2-1

1992

Liverpool

Sunderland

2-0

19

HOW MEMORY

CAN IMPROVE

YOUR GOLF SWING

The attraction and frustration of sport is that there is always room for improvement. There are no absolutes. Sprinters can run the 100 metres faster, batsmen can score more runs, tennis players can play more passing shots, darts players can score 180 more frequently, and a golf ball can always be struck more sweetly.

Regardless of the sport, there are two fundamental ways in which you can improve your game: technique and practice. Memory plays a key role in both.

Golf, like chess, is a game of the mind, requiring high levels of concentration and mental composure. A good memory is invaluable for players of all

standards. Beginners need to remember a whole range of things before each shot (stance, grip, angle of clubface). And a professional, faced with an awkward lie perhaps, or difficult playing conditions, should always be able to refer back to a relevant precedent, possibly from many years ago.

I am going to concentrate solely on how memory can improve one aspect of the game: your swing.

DECLARATIVE AND REFLEXIVE MEMORY

If you are being taught how to drive a car, you are constantly trying to convert what the instructor is saying into physical actions. You make a conscious effort to remember the order of 'mirror, signal, manoeuvre', for example. Mental recall of this sort is known as 'declarative memory'.

In time, you will begin to check in your mirror, flick on the indicator and pull out without consciously recalling your instructor's words. Your actions become automatic and there is no longer any conscious act of recall. Memory,

however, still plays its part and is known as 'reflexive memory'.

Similarly, if you are being taught how to drive a golf ball down the centre of the fairway, you are desperately trying to convert what the instructor is saying into a respectable shot. In those early, frustrating weeks and months, your technique relies heavily on your declarative memory: what were the instructor's ten key points? How was the man standing in the golfing video at home? And what did it say about grip in that book you got for Christmas?

Wouldn't life become so much easier if your declarative memory was able

to absorb and recall all these tips in an instant? It would then be solely a matter of practice before they transferred into your reflexive memory. And think how much better your game would be if you could learn every piece of advice