Optimal Performance "Flow"

 

Do you remember what it felt like when you played your best basketball game?  To be in the zone and unstoppable is a liberating feeling where you reach complete confidence and things come easily and effortlessly.  The game becomes simple and slow, to the point where you feel you are only going 75% but are always a step ahead of your opponent.  You are never rushed or rattled and every shot you throw up goes in. If only you could play like that every game, right?  Interestingly enough, this “mountain top” experience is actually a real state of mind; one that can be entered into with mental discipline and practice.  This mental state often referred to as “being in the zone” is termed “Flow” by sports psychologists.

Positive psychologist Mihály Csíkszentmihályi, describes the effects of flow as “being completely involved in an activity for its own sake. Time flies and every action, movement, and thought follows inevitably from the previous one, like playing jazz. Your whole being is involved, and you're using your skills to the utmost.”1 This is the state of mind where you are able to reach optimal performance.  All cognitive, physical, and emotional skills are working at maximum levels to reach peak performance.  The following ten factors have been identified that accompany the occurrence of Flow:

1. Clear goals that, while challenging, are still attainable.2
2. Strong concentration and focused attention.2
3. The activity is intrinsically rewarding.2
4. Feelings of serenity; a loss of feelings of self-consciousness.2
5. Timelessness; a distorted sense of time; feeling so focused on the present that you lose track of time passing.2
6. Immediate feedback.2
7. Knowing that the task is doable; a balance between skill level and the challenge presented.2
8. Feelings of personal control over the situation and the outcome.2
9. Lack of awareness of physical needs.2
10. Complete focus on the activity itself.2

What we see from these factors and what we must understand about flow, is the direct correlation between the challenge level of the goal and necessary skill level to attain it.  Now that we understand what Flow is and the factors accompanying it, we can begin learning how to apply it to sports.  My next installment will further discuss the prime conditions to reach “Flow” as well as the fundamental keys to applying it to sports.

References

1Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1997) Finding Flow: The Psychology of Engagement with Everyday Life. Basic Books, New York.

2Cherry, K. (n.d.). What Is Flow? - The Psychology of Flow. Retrieved July 6, 2015.