Using Sports Psychology to Achieve a Zone Focus

The ability to concentrate in the present and keep focused on the task is very important to achieve peak performance in any endeavor.

In the nearly 15 years I have been researching and coaching athletes and business to peak performance, I have learned that during a 2-3 hour competition an athlete switches his or her concentration on and off repeatedly with the ebb and flow of the game. This makes it hard to get into a zone state or flow. During an average day at work, you might be bombarded with several distractions that require you to refocus constantly and prevent you from performing your best if you are unable to refocus.

Peak performing athletes have learned to master the art of focus to develop total concentration to maximize their performance. Total concentration occurs when a person becomes totally involved in the task, feels that time is suspended, and loses the sense of being separate from his/her surroundings. In this article, I share four steps to achieving a zone focus developed from my work with athletes.

Let's start at the beginning by defining concentration. (I use focus and concentration interchangeably.) I define concentration as:

"The ability to immerse yourself in task-relevant cues that allow you to execute a task while staying grounded in the present moment. Concentration also includes the ability to not attend to distractions or non-relevant thoughts and refocus when distracted."

Looking at the definitions of concentration, you can see that a keen focus has five basic elements:

1. The ability to direct attention to a relevant object, thought, or feeling

2. A present tense orientation

3. The ability to deflect or not attend to distractions, irrelevant thoughts

4. The ability to refocus on the relevant cues when distracted

5. The ability to fix or narrow attention

As a mental game coach, I have studied and researched a variety of theories about how athletes find, enter and stay in the "zone." Over the years I have been working in sports psychology, I have been greatly influenced by Dr. Mihaly Csikszentmihaly (I refer to him as Dr. C.).

Dr. C, a psychologist at the University of Chicago, has studied the phenomenon of zone focus or "flow" throughout his career. "Flow" in my opinion, is the zone state in limited form, but has the same attention characteristics. I usually think of "flow" as a sample state of entering the zone that leads to optimum performance.

Dr. C studied a variety of athletes--basketball players, dancers, rock climbers, chess players, factory workers and other performers--to understand why people enjoy activities even when there are no inherent rewards present. He hypothesized that when people become fully absorbed in an activity, they reach a state of flow.

Based upon his research, Dr. C theorized that four elements must be present to get into the flow state: (1) the presence of a challenging activity; (2) the perception that your skills match the challenge; (3) clear goals; and (4) the availability of instant feedback concerning your performance. What Dr. C concluded was that when these elements are present, an "order in consciousness" occurs. And, it is this phenomenon that helps people immerse themselves in an activity and have fun doing it.

We certainly know that all four elements of concentration are present in sports and in many careers. The goals of sports and work are clear to hit a jump shot or complete a project. You also get instant feedback related to your performance - whether or not you miss the basket or the feedback you get from you boss on that project.

My philosophy about helping athletes improve performance is derived from my experience working with and coaching athletes. I teach four guidelines to athletes to help them apply a process focus and achieve a zone focus. Again, this may sound very basic and is easy to understand, however, it is much harder to consistently apply to practice and competition. These same steps I teach athletes can be applied to your career and completing daily tasks at work.

1. Identify the cues that are relevant for successful execution for each task you perform when working such as a staff meeting. The first step is to identify what do you need to focus on to achieve successful execution in this meeting. Also, what is not relevant to attending this meeting, such as distracting thoughts about what you are going to cook for tonight's dinner? (This helps you filter out the cues that will hinder your success)

2. Immerse yourself in the task-relevant cues you identified in number one. You have the power to selectively attend to what you want to and filter out those items that are not relevant. (This is where preparatory routines might come into play for some athletes. A routine will help guide you to become mentally absorbed in the task rather than the distractions during competition.) You too can develop a preparatory routine to help you prepare for the upcoming staff meeting.

3. Recognize when you are off-task, distracted, or out of your normal routine. This means reviewing your past performances to determine how and when your focus wanders or breaks down (e.g. external distraction, doubt, indecision, etc.). Be prepared to respond to this information by refocusing. Refocusing is the key to better concentration.

4. Create a strategy to help you refocus on the relevant cues of the task. This is the most important step in dealing with distractions and breakdowns in focus. The second you notice that you are off-task, the final and most important step is to release the distraction and get back to the present. Exercise some discipline of focus and immerse yourself into the requirements of the task. If you become distracted, catch yourself, and get back to the current task. This entire process should not take more than 2-4 seconds to complete.

I teach my students a simple three-step approach to refocusing when distracted:

• Recognize you are distracted or off-task (thinking about dinner tonight)
• Regroup tell yourself to "stop" and get back to the task at hand
• Refocus change your focus back to the current task or performance (engage in the staff meeting)

Most people have the power to concentrate. What you choose to focus on and how you cope with distractions is ultimately the road to entering a what I call a zone focus. Entering a zone focus is definitely a prerequisite to finding the zone and performing your best in any career. A huge part of getting into the zone is you ability to focus on the right things and in balance.

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Dr. Patrick J. Cohn is a master mental game coach who works with athletes of all levels including amateur and professionals. Visit Peaksports.com to gain access to over 500 exclusive mental game articles, audio programs, and interviews with athletes and coaches to enhance your athletic potential: www.peaksports.com/membership or call 888-742-7225.