There is a deep link between scents we smell and our mood. The olfactory receptors in our nose are directly connected to the limbic system, the most ancient and primitive part of the brain, which is associated with emotion.

Elite sportsmen are well aware of the importance of smell on their performance. Skeleton bobsleigh riders become hyper-aware on their runs and report getting distracted by spectators wearing strong perfumes along the track. Anyone doing outdoor sports knows the feeling of wearing beach suncream which triggers a mood memory unhelpful for success in the game.

Is it possible that certainly scents actually enhance sporting performance? Dr Alan Hirsch from the Smell & Taste Treatment and Research Foundation in Chicago researched the impact of smells on the performance of batters from the White Sox baseball team.  He found that when the players smelled jasmine, it improved their performance by a statistically significant degree.  See this link for more information. Improvement was seen in their swing speed, connection with the ball, follow through and the distance the ball travelled.

In a separate study, Dr Hirsch measured the impact of various scents on reaction time.You can see their paper here.  The results showed that reaction time was faster when exposed to jasmine. The exact causal link between jasmine and performance is not clear. Dr Hirsch notes that other pleasant scents like lavender did not have the same impact on reaction time.

All Bullet & Bone products contain jasmine as well as other scents designed to improve your focus and alertness. As Dr Hirsch says of the White Sox batters: “Even when you’re at the top of your game, you can be that much better,” he said.