| Have you ever attempted to perform a simple act and | | | | short duration; non-voluntary and not induced at will; |
| completely failed? From completely mistiming a shot to | | | | and unique. He found that it required many years of |
| losing balance at a crucial moment, the outcome may | | | | practice before they could enter the zone. He defines |
| have fallen short of our intention and expectation. In | | | | the common characteristics of the experience as: - |
| contrast there are times when everything goes just | | | | ... focusing on the present moment, effortless merging |
| right, every act is carried out to perfection with little | | | | of action and awareness, loss of personal ego, sense |
| perceived effort. Why should this be the case? If we | | | | of control, clear feedback, and an intrinsic reward |
| are capable of achieving feats of brilliance one | | | | system." |
| moment, why do we fail so comprehensively the | | | | A study conducted at Monash University in Melbourne, |
| next? What condition is present one moment and | | | | Australia, questioned athletes from a number of sports |
| gone the next? Athletes refer to the later as 'The | | | | about their experience in the zone. In a paper titled: |
| Zone ' and spend their lives trying to reach this | | | | 'The Zone : Evidence of A Universal Phenomenon for |
| subliminal level. | | | | Athletes Across Sports', by Young and Pain (1999), the |
| The elusiveness of the zone gives us a clue into its | | | | conclusion drawn was that regardless of the sport, |
| nature. Athletes experiencing these moments cannot | | | | athletes appear to experience the same 'heightened |
| explain how they came to be there, and report that | | | | state of consciousness'. The participants used words |
| the state is lost as soon as they become aware of | | | | such as "peak", "perfect moments", "mindfulness" and |
| being in it. From their observations it appears that 'being | | | | "flow" to describe their time in the zone. |
| in the zone' involves integration of the conscious and | | | | The words "let", "flow" and "mindfulness" are not |
| unconscious aspects of movement, that is the | | | | generally associated with effort and pushing to the limit. |
| voluntary decision to act and the reflex that facilitates | | | | Could being in 'the zone' involve a state of |
| the action. Becoming conscious of the moment seems | | | | non-interference with movement? A balanced state |
| to destroy it. A comparable situation is the act of falling | | | | that promotes optimum integration of the postural |
| asleep, as soon as we become aware we are about | | | | reflexes, consciousness and appropriate use of learnt |
| to fall asleep we interrupt the process. We cannot do | | | | patterns. This could explain why it requires years of |
| anything to directly make ourselves fall asleep. All we | | | | practice before the zone is experienced. |
| can do is to stop doing what may be preventing the | | | | Unfortunately because we are unaware of how we |
| process. At an early age I learnt you do not fall asleep | | | | interfere with the natural mechanisms, time spent in the |
| any quicker on Christmas Eve by closing you eyes | | | | zone is rare and brief. If we learn to first identify what |
| tighter. | | | | it is we do to interfere, and then how to prevent it, we |
| The zone is described in a paper titled: The | | | | may increase our chances of making the zone. |
| Achievement Zone as: - | | | | One of the best methods to experience 'being in the |
| ... a special place where performance is exceptional | | | | moment' is The Alexander Technique, a much |
| and consistent, automatic and flowing. An athlete is | | | | undervalued thought and movement system. Using |
| able to ignore all the pressures and let his or her body | | | | these technique sports people regardless of ability can |
| deliver the performance that has been learned so well. | | | | learn to develop awareness skills that can help identify |
| Competition is fun and exciting. (Murphy, 1996) | | | | performance-limiting habits. It is only once we have |
| Sport Psychologist, Kenneth Ravizza, conducted one | | | | become conscious of these habits can we then start |
| of the first studies into the zone in 1977 called: 'A | | | | to change them. Athletes who have trained using The |
| subjective study of the athlete's greatest moment in | | | | Alexander Technique include Matthew Pincent and his |
| sport'. He studied the experiences of twenty top | | | | gold medal UK rowing crew at the Athens Olympice |
| athletes during their moments of glory and found that | | | | 2004. |
| the experience was: - ... temporary and of relatively | | | | |
