What is The Zone For Peak Performance?
All athletes love the magical, sought after state of mind known as the *zone.* This state of supreme focus helps athletes in all sports perform at their peak.
Many athletes who want to reach their peak potential are always in search of secrets to hop into the ‘*zone.* But the zone is really not that complicated or hard to achieve when the right mental game strategies are put into place.
It is difficult to enter a *zone* state every time you compete. No one is perfect, but you can learn the mental strategies that will help you get there more often!
What really is the zone? The zone is simply a mental state of total involvement in the present moment. I like the word *immersed* as it indicates you lose yourself (or your sense of self) when you perform, which is how some athletes describe the zone.
Being in the zone is a state of total involvement in a task without the mental burden or worry, doubt, or fear about results.
So, if the zone is that simple, why can’t athletes achieve this mindset every time they hit the court or step on the diamond?
Many of the top athletes do -Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan, and Maria Sharapova, for example. But some athletes are blocked from entering the zone because they are overtaken by massive distractions such as fear of failure and worry.
The top athletes know how to harness the power of the zone by using thoughts and images to trigger a mindset to enter the zone.
“I felt as though I was driving in a tunnel. I had reached such a high level of concentration that it was as if the car and I had become one. “
~Arton Senna, F1 Race Car Driver
Arton Senna’s quote is a common description of how athletes depict or explain their experience in the zone: The driver merges with the car; the tennis player joins her mind with the ball and court; the golfer becomes one with the club and the ball; and so on.
Entering the zone may sound zen-like and magical, but actually achieving this level of immersion is very simple. When your mind fully connects with achieving a goal, such as serving an ace, attention is absorbed into the present (the here and now only). Your mind is riveted to the thoughts and images that help you execute with precision.
With pinpoint focus, fear of failure, worry, doubt, indecision, and other mental traps are forbidden from entering your conscious mind. In this state of concentration, mental distractions struggle to compete for your attention, but lose the battle.
You *can* capture this state of immersion to enhance your performance and maximize your athletic potential!
Check out The Focused Athlete Workbook Program.
Thanks,
Patrick J. Cohn, Ph.D.
Master Mental Game Coach
Related Sports Psychology Articles
- Do Athletes Have to Be in the Zone to Perform Well?
- Strive for Consistency, Not The Zone
- How to Stay in the Zone When Playing Well
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The Focused Athlete
It’s probably no secret that you have many opportunities to become distracted in sports. Athletes are bombarded with both internal and external distractions everyday in practice and competition. Focused athletes are able to get the most from their skills because they are more efficient with practice and more concentrated in competition. Athletes who lack focus let distractions run wild through their mind and don’t know how to adjust or refocus.
The Focused Athlete was developed for any level coach, parent, or junior to professional athlete who wants to improve performance and gain a competitive edge. It does not matter if you are a fledgling junior athlete; or a seasoned professional, plagued with distractions; or you just wanting to learn how to improve concentration…
“The Focused Athlete” is a complete system to teach you how to focus like a champion and harness the power of a zone focus every time you step on the playing field, court, track, or course in practice and games!
I to have entered “the zone” one too many times and it fills great but it can somehow can cost a lot of stamina especially in Basketball. So I say “the zone” has its advantages and disadvantages but all I could say is that “the zone” can really help you especially in a crucial time. It can be used as a trump card for you.