The “Zone” or “Flow” state.

Sports Psychology, August 01, 2023

“I’ve never felt lighter in a race. I didn’t hurt the whole time. It was an out of body experience.” -Marathoner describing their best race whilst in the Flow.


Often only associated with sports (e.g., runners high), where it’s well researched, being in the ‘zone’ or ‘flow’ can be achieved across your everyday life too. You know the feeling. You’re engaged in a lively conversation and don’t realise that three hours have passed; you’re working to a project deadline and feel so swept up by inspiration that you can’t tear yourself away; you’re golfing, and just can’t seem to miss the sweet spot; you’re running, easily hitting splits that were once out of reach, or you’re joyfully lost in the technicality of a single-track trail. You’re in Flow State.

Picking out, and focusing on the right performance cues, helps you stay in moment or flow. Stop worrying about the outcome. Let go of what others might think about your performance; stop trying to read others' minds, it only adds performance anxiety, and focus only on what you can influence.

In this article I will describe the experience of flow (or zone), outline what happens in our brains and bodies during flow and discuss the factors that contribute to flow experiences. Finally, a simple flow formula will be outlined along with an activity designed to help you experience flow more frequently.

WHAT DOES FLOW FEEL LIKE?

Flow is most often described as complete absorption in an experience1. It is the feeling of complete focus that occurs during a conversation that fascinates you. It is the stream of ideas and creativity that keeps writers, artists, and musicians behind closed doors, captured by their craft. It is the experience of heightened “feel” in skill-based sports, and relatively effortless exertion in speed and endurance sports2. Often, when a performer is asked what they were thinking following a flow experience they will reply, “I don’t know,” or “Nothing at all”.

Flow experiences are developed and characterised by:

Action and awareness merging – A feeling of unity between body and mind, the task you are engaged in, and the systems that remove distractions, and for building habits and rituals.

Time transformation – The impression that long events seem comparatively short, or short events seem comparatively long.

High skill – You can reach a flow state far easier with greater experience, which means practice, practice, practice.

Concentration on the task at hand – 100% focus on the challenge before you.

Loss of self-consciousness – You are not concerned with what others are thinking about you.

Sense of control – You feel capable of meeting the challenge before you.

Intrinsic value – You love the act of taking part in the task for its own sake.

No self-criticism – You focus on the positive. Concern for the self seems to disappear during a zone experience, as do worries or negative thoughts.

WHAT HAPPENS TO US DURING FLOW?

There is good reason why a performer can’t remember the specifics of what she was thinking or doing during flow: flow causes parts of a performers brain to slow down. Of course, this is contrary to what we might presume, but it is true! When we enter flow state, we experience a phenomenon called hypofrontality3, which simply means that the area of our brain responsible for rational thought – the prefrontal cortex, is subdued. Additionally, during flow the part of our brain responsible for fear, the amygdala, is also inhibited3.

Reduced cognitive processing leaves more neural resources available for the task at hand, allowing them to operate at their highest capacity. Complete immersion allows for instinct to rule, the trained instinct of an athlete facing a challenge for which they have prepared. Neural processing is slow compared to the speed of a trained body. Hypo-frontality allows the body to perform as it has been trained, without delay or distraction from the thinking mind3.

WHAT IS REQUIRED FOR FLOW EXPERIENCES?

Despite the great deal of research that has been invested in flow state, and its revered value for human experience, flow is still elusive and not well understood. However, some conditions appear to contribute to most flow experiences1:

Challenge-skills balance – You perceive the challenge before you as a stretch, but not an impossibility. Flow occurs in the challenge continuum between panic and boredom. If a task is too easy you are unlikely to experience flow, and if the task is too challenging flow will be impossible due to the overwhelming power of extreme fear and anxiety. The optimal challenge is one for which you feel prepared, and for which previous performances and training sessions indicate you are ready.

Clear goals – You know precisely what you are trying to achieve. Goals provide a concrete target for your attention.

Unambiguous feedback – While you are performing you are aware of how you are doing.

Although not researched as thoroughly as the above conditions for flow state, I have observed another factor that appears to contribute to flow excitement. Athletes who feel excited about engaging in a task, or meet a challenge seem to experience flow more frequently than those who appear apathetic, cynical, or simply going through the motions.

Personally, I have identified the following essentials to get into flow:

  1. Consistent training over a period of months and years
  2. Increasing the challenges firmly but gradually
  3. Search out a club with coaching, and other athletes of better ability to pull me along
  4. Clear personal outcome goals of beating specific times and using tech (and a geeky annual planner!) to chart progress.
  5. A coach-led training routine (program), with an eye on future events to keep me motivated
  6. A passion for and enjoyment in what you are doing.

ONE SIMPLE FLOW FORMULA

More and more athletes have highlighted an ‘external’ intrinsic inspiration which underpins their race completion, that isn’t about the race itself. They credited their best performance to a feeling of connection to a loved one or an external worthy cause. Such as happiness in a romantic relationship or moved by seeing their family at the start line or competing to raise donations to support a charity (often associated with the death of a significant other). Athlete after athlete reflect on moments of very close connection to a significant other as their trigger for flow. This does make sense. Science has shown that love can reduce fear and pain, which as we now know is common to flow state also.

So, considering the well-researched feeling of flow, the conditions for it, and numerous athletes’ anecdotal intrinsic motivators, you may like to try the flow formula, as it incorporates three factors that to contribute to flow: challenge, preparation, and connection:

  1. Write down the reasons why you are excited to be racing or training today. Why is the experience meaningful? Why is it fun? Why are you grateful for it?
  1. Why are you prepared to have a great race or training session today? You can reflect on past workouts and races, you can consider why you trust your coach, or yourself?
  1. Who in your life makes you smile regardless of how well you run? Picture their face; what qualities do you love about them? What qualities do they love about you?

Consider these questions during a quiet time, well before an important race. Experiment with them in training. I’d recommend having a few memories of loved ones on hand and use them carefully. Sometimes one memory can lose its impact if used too frequently – but then of course there are moments that always move us, and I’m hopeful that this information about flow state will help you develop more of these in your training and racing.

References:

  1. Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Flow. New York, NY: Harper & Row
  2. Jackson, S., Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1999). Flow in Sports: The Keys to Optimal Experiences and Performances. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics
  3. Kotler, S. (2014). The Rise of Superman. New York, NY: Harpour Mifflin

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