| The Zone' in Sports - FAQWhat
is The Zone?
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This is the peak performance mental state - which produces super-human performances and winning streaks.
It is a well-known term in many sports, and any athlete who is in this mental state is virtually unbeatable at their respective level of competition - and when at the elite level, you often witness world records which are well and truly smashed.
An athlete who is 'in the zone' experiences an unusual feeling of effortless control and power, almost as if their body was programmed for the perfect performance, and moving with instinctive and automatic fluid movement.
It can be almost a strange sensation as the performance often does not feel as if it's being controlled by the actual athlete. In fact, they often feel as if they weren't responsible for the performance at all - as if their body was being guided and directed by a more powerful force (and this is exactly what is happening).
Needless to say, every one of our mental sporting programs on this site are specifically designed to help the athlete access their own personal Zone more easily, as well as with various other improvements.
Almost every athlete at some stage in their career has experienced this feeling to some extent, and then wondered afterwards "how did I do that?"
This is the mystery that surrounds this mental state called the zone - why does it appear so fleetingly, and then disappear just as quickly as it came? And most of all - why can't we access this mental state all the time?
So what is this powerful force which is guiding the body during this period? The answer is the sleeping giant that resides inside all human beings, the source of all bodily movement, which contains all your past sporting experiences - yes, your subconscious mind.
When an athlete is 'zoning', their conscious mind (our normally busy, chattering mind) becomes unusually quiet, allowing their more powerful subconscious to run their performance on 'auto-pilot', the way a computer runs software.
This allows their movements to flow much easier and more effortlessly in a way that could never be matched by conscious thought.
This means that when you are in the zone, you have virtually no thought going through your mind whatsoever, your body is just performing on automatic-pilot, powered directly by your subconscious.
This is not to say that your body is performing without instruction - on the contrary, it is simply getting its instructions from a more powerful and reliable source.
By thinking zero thoughts, this takes away the pressure of expectation. As soon as the pressure is taken off, this is the time when most athletes become capable of reaching the zone and achieving something truly special.
The zone is often achieved when you are NOT intending to perform a particularly special performance, and when the pressure is off. This is why (in competitions) it can sometimes be helpful to pretend that you are not the favorite to win, even if you really are - as this may allow you to relax more and make ‘the zone’ more reachable for you.
So is there one particular way to get into the zone? No, there are several ways, but because everyone is different, you must experiment to find the method that best suits you.
It is recommended that you try this at intervals in your daily training. Not all the time, as you also need to consciously work on things such as technique in your training, but everyone so often, do a set where you are trying to access the zone.
Here's a short mental checklist when you are about to try a set 'in the zone'.
- Clear
your mind of all thought just before the
performance. Thoughts
only get in the way, and keeps your conscious
mind involved, which is not what you want.
The clearer your mind can be, the more easily
your subconscious mind can click in to run
your entire performance.
- Pay
absolutely no attention to anything around
you. Once again, the last thing we want
is for your conscious mind to be involved,
so just allow yourself to 'go within' and
do not think about the surroundings (or
anything) whatsoever.
- Allow
your body to perform on ‘automatic pilot’
without thought, during this time just allow
your body to be guided, rather than
directed, by your mind.
This allows your subconscious to take the driver's seat, which is the way to performing in the zone. This, of course, seems to go against all of the 'normal' ways we would approach anything - thinking about what we are doing is such a natural occurrence to most of us, but the key is not to. If anything, try and feel the performance, rather than orchestrating it.
- Remember
that it's difficult to get into the zone
when you are trying to do it. It
usually happens when you least expect
it, and this is because when your body
is no longer being held back by the pressure
of expectation (from yourself or others),
your mind is allowed to direct your body
as it truly wishes. So try and use effortless
effort.
- Do not project your mind backward or forward in time - just ‘be here now’ and allow yourself to perform as you have been trained. The present will never hold any fear for you, only the past or the future create the fears. When you are performing, remind yourself that there is only now, as this reduces stress as well as helping you reach the zone.
When you are about to compete, don’t worry about whether you'll perform well enough, just know that you have already put in the time and the training, and that the result will take care of itself.
This can stop you from overtrying. Just relax and let it happen. This is what I would like you to practice thinking in training, so it becomes automatic.
Practicing getting into the zone is definitely something you should only try in training, until you have perfected it enough to try in the competitions.
You don't want to go trying this for the first time in a big event, wait until you are getting a handle on it first. But remember, do not practice this every single part of your training, as you also have other things such as technique to work on as well.
I
have Some More Questions - Can I Ask You?
Sure! Go right ahead, just email me your questions here and I will be in touch!
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