We got the win, thanks to 2 of my teammates hitting their clutch free throws, but it was nice to "touch the hand of Jordan" as a mate of mine used to call it
I thought that was something you do in jail?
I was reading a article the other day suggesting top athletes only use minimal thinking power when playing their chosen sport, as they are kind of in auto-pilot. The example they gave (after testing) was Brazil's Neymar. I don't think this has much to do with the zone but rather using skills autonomously and being familiar enough with patterns in your chosen sport.
Sadly the only times I've ever experienced 'the zone' myself are rather inconsequential. Playing pool at the pub and calling shots that had no right to go in, but were somehow pre-ordained, and so SIMPLE. Playing Mario Kart 64 on the reverse tracks and just knowing what way the track would turn instinctively, anticipating the appearance of obstacles. Playing FIFA on PS3. Im usually pretty hopeless at darts, but sometimes I get on runs where I just can't miss.
Whenever this happens, the one thing in common is my state of mind. Very focussed, but relaxed and clear. No distractions, no questions, just doing. If you were to interupt me between shots, I'd probably not hear you or punch you in the face and keep moving.
Golf, for me, seems to disobey every law of the zone. Perfect practice swing. I can feel exactly how crisp the ball will feel coming off the club, how it will fly, where it will bounce, my balanced follow through etc. Then whack, splash.
There is no zone in golf. It’s just a case of the universe deciding if it likes you that day or not.
I was reading a article the other day suggesting top athletes only use minimal thinking power when playing their chosen sport, as they are kind of in auto-pilot. The example they gave (after testing) was Brazil's Neymar. I don't think this has much to do with the zone but rather using skills autonomously and being familiar enough with patterns in your chosen sport.
Involves ludicrous amounts of training, both physical and mental.
There's a famous story going around about Kobe Bryant from one of the US Olympic conditioning coaches. Kobe woke the coach up at some silly hour to get an extra conditioning session in. The coach went back to bed, and came back to the main session later that day to discover Kobe had hung around for the extra five or so hours because he wanted to hit 800 jump shots before the main session.
Baseball grand final a few years ago against a team we had lost to twice during the year and in the first week of the finals. Two homeruns, a double and a single, nine runs batted in for the day. Pitched the last innings for three straight strike outs. Whole team crushed them. Glorious sunny day, with my family and new girlfirend (now wife) watching on.
I've had a few games in the zone, but that one stands out.
I was reading a article the other day suggesting top athletes only use minimal thinking power when playing their chosen sport, as they are kind of in auto-pilot. The example they gave (after testing) was Brazil's Neymar. I don't think this has much to do with the zone but rather using skills autonomously and being familiar enough with patterns in your chosen sport.
Sadly the only times I've ever experienced 'the zone' myself are rather inconsequential. Playing pool at the pub and calling shots that had no right to go in, but were somehow pre-ordained, and so SIMPLE. Playing Mario Kart 64 on the reverse tracks and just knowing what way the track would turn instinctively, anticipating the appearance of obstacles. Playing FIFA on PS3. Im usually pretty hopeless at darts, but sometimes I get on runs where I just can't miss.
Whenever this happens, the one thing in common is my state of mind. Very focussed, but relaxed and clear. No distractions, no questions, just doing. If you were to interupt me between shots, I'd probably not hear you or punch you in the face and keep moving.
Golf, for me, seems to disobey every law of the zone. Perfect practice swing. I can feel exactly how crisp the ball will feel coming off the club, how it will fly, where it will bounce, my balanced follow through etc. Then whack, splash.
There's a famous sports psychology book called "With Winning in Mind" that goes into this a bit. It's written by a former Olympic shooter who got second place a lot because he choked finals.
It's actually an interesting read and translates well to most goals. The whole idea is to focus on the process, not the end result. It sounds simple but guarantee 99.9% of the population go into sporting events or presentations and all they are thinking about is the winning or the success that comes after it.
The general gist of the story is to set the goal and work out the steps to get there. What you need to do, and when you're there, what you need to do. Don't focus on wanting to win, focus on the steps that are going to make you win.
I guess the immediate relation to football would be with something like goal kicking. Guys with a good set routine who go back and focus on the steps they take before taking the shot are generally much better set shots than those who just kind of wander back and think about kicking the goal. Lloydy thought out the shorts adjustment, the socks adjustment, the grass throw and the run up - and nailed them. Jay Schulz does it now as well.
If you focus on the end result you put pressure on yourself and your mind automatically starts thinking "don't miss it". If you're thinking that, you're going to miss.
While maybe not "the zone", it's the same in that you aren't really thinking about it.
The Zone is awesome, because (albeit for a brief moment) you're completely invincible.
I was once in the zone in Primary School cricket... I bowled 4/10 off two overs. One of the wickets, the ball spun so far that the umpire gave it out even though the ball missed the bat by the width of the bat itself. Never did I reach those heights ever again in my cricketing career. :(
The Zone is awesome, because (albeit for a brief moment) you're completely invincible.
I was once in the zone in Primary School cricket... I bowled 4/10 off two overs. One of the wickets, the ball spun so far that the umpire gave it out even though the ball missed the bat by the width of the bat itself. Never did I reach those heights ever again in my cricketing career. :(
Good on you for reminding me of Primary School cricket.
I took 8/6 myself (also including a catch in slips that clearly came off his leg, but things were too mad by then, and besides, he hit me for four so screw him).
I was bowling medium pace off-cutters, and on that day I seemed to find a length that made them unplayable.
Truly ridiculous moment - A batsman really, really skied the tennis ball to our version of long off. I chased it from my follow though, ended up running horizontally like Steve Waugh behind the sightscreen, overran the ball, threw my right hand behind me still at full pace, ball falls in hand.
Gotimpissoffyerout!
Was criticised for 'showing off.'
Having said all that, that wasn't the zone. That was the sun shines on dogs ■■■■ on some days.
Funny people talk about video games. If anyone has played Geometry Wars, it's a great retro style arcade game on PC (and XBLA), released a couple of years ago. Twitch gameplay, very simple, go for the high score. I was getting pretty good and could consistently get 3/4/5 and maybe 600,000 points whilst just scraping by with lives etc. A mate of mine could get over 1,000,000 and had done so a few times. I'll never forget the day just everything came off, I was on 900,000 having lost 1 life (you start with 3 and get another every 200,000 maybe? So I had like 5). Anyway there was no way I could fail and I choked and got 929,000. End story.
I was in the zone though
I don't play sport, I have no coordination. But I'm competitive. When it comes to playing sport my motto is I hate to lose and I'm not good enough to win.
So. For some reason I'm playing softball. Yeah right, frigging softball. Why? No idea. I'm on 2nd base. Pitcher throws, batter hits, and it's coming towards me. In this moment, I enter ... THE ZONE ... it felt like slow motion, I make this huge lunging dive to my right side. Both hands out stretched, glove hand ready, and my eyes are right between my hands as I watch the ball fly through the air, directly towards me, directly between my hands...
Darkness
...then I wake up covered in blood. Friends describe me as looking like a sprinkler as I rolled along the ground spurting blood furiously from my broken nose.
THE ZONE