Sports Psychology: What To Think To Get In the Zone

12. February 2009 by John Schinnerer.

By Dr. John Schinnerer

Guide To Self, Inc.

I played soccer yesterday. It was a simple pickup game that is held every Sunday during the off season. It’s a joy to me to be out there, with the smell of the grass, running with the ball, running without the ball, passing and shooting. I’m happy simply to be playing.

Inevitably, there is one player who is driven by something else, the need to win, perhaps. Such players have an uncanny ability to humiliate and criticize their own teammates and as a result bring down the overall performance of the team.

One person, in particular, plays as if our pickup game is the World Cup and is furious whenever one of his teammates makes a mistake on the field. He says things like, ‘Stop playing like a girl,’ ‘Never make such a stupid pass,’ or ‘You guys are an embarrassment.’ To put it bluntly, he is a bully.

Yesterday, he stole the ball from a player on his own team. His behavior inevitably leads to infighting amongst his team. One Sunday it led to a fistfight.

The whole situation fascinates me – sort of like observing a social experiment gone awry. This is particularly true given psychological research in the area of bullying, anxiety, relaxation and performance in the zone under pressure.

The Old Sports Mindset

In sports, there seems to be a stubborn mindset in which bullying is tolerated and, at times, encouraged. This tired, uninformed mindset justifies insults, intimidation, shame, and public embarrassment as viable ways to motivate people to excel. However, studies show that people usually shut down when negative emotions, especially fear and shame, arise. More specifically, the mind tends to freeze when these destructive emotions come into play.

Let’s return to the example of the bullying soccer player. When he lays into a teammate, and belittles their efforts, generally that teammate will feel a negative emotion such as anger or doubt. This anger or doubt has the effect of narrowing the player’s attention, usually creating more self-consciousness (or self-monitoring) in terms of how he or she is playing. In other words, it makes them consciously focus too much on their performance which makes them perform worse. As the victim quickly becomes angry and embarrassed, other players ‘catch’ the disrespected players anger and embarrassment. As a result, the overall performance of the team declines. Bullying behaviors work against the bully’s desired outcome which is victory. 

Negativity from Peers or Coaches Impairs Performance

The old school of thought was that a little yelling at players will ‘toughen them up and prepare them for real life.’ Now we know better. In 2003, Dr. Stephen Joseph at University of Warwick reported that ‘verbal abuse can have more impact upon victims’ self-worth than physical attacks, such as punching…stealing or the destruction of belongings.’  In 2007, JoLynn Carney at Penn State found that the trauma endured by individuals due to bullying results in changes in the body. The study found higher cortisol levels (a major stress hormone) in the saliva of individuals who had been bullied recently. That makes sense. What is amazing is that cortisol levels were elevated for individuals who simply thought about being bullied. Ironically, when cortisol levels go up and the body goes into fight-or-flight mode, the ability to think clearly and to learn goes down. So coaches who rely on fear and intimidation create an environment where less is learned and less is remembered to the extent that they create destructive emotions in others.  

New Learning Take Place in the Cortex

So what should the bully do if he really wants to win? His best action would be to help his teammates perform better by staying calm, and making room for learning via mistakes (e.g.,  ‘On this field, it’s okay to screw up’).  If he really wanted to win, he would know that the learning of new skills takes place in the cortex. And when you first learn a new skill, you actively use the cortex to consciously map out movement, plan actions, prioritize, and so on. When learning a new activity, brain scans show a great degree of activity in the cortex.

Practiced Skills Are Controlled By the Cerebellum

As an activity gets repeated, the cerebellum gradually takes over control of the activity. With practice or repetition, the activity goes from requiring a good deal of conscious thought (using the cortex) to requiring no conscious thought (when the activity is controlled via the cerebellum).  Once the activity becomes automatic, it becomes more energy efficient, precise, graceful and lightning fast. However, you cannot consciously access the cerebellum.  It all takes place on a level of which you are not consciously aware.

Optimal Performance Is Negated By Conscious Thought

Performance in the zone, or being fully engaged with a task, is not a result of conscious thought. It’s a result of not thinking. More specifically, it’s a matter of thinking only one thing. I’ll tell you more about what that ‘one thing’ is later.

When performing in the clutch, some experts will tell you ‘slow down’ and ‘take your time’,  or ‘relax.’

That is outstanding advice for the rest of your life. But it’s not such good advice when in the clutch.

Slowing down gets in the way of exceptional performance – too much time to think, too much self-monitoring (i.e., consciously thinking about your performance). It is better for your performance if you simply go through the routine you’ve practiced over and over. Ideally, you also want to create safe yet stress-inducing practices in an attempt to recreate the conditions under which you perform.

So the conscious mind can kick into high gear and mess up stellar performance. Is it possible to under think performance?

Yes, it is possible to be so unfocused that the performance isn’t even started, let alone finished.

How Much Thinking Is Optimal for Getting In the Zone?

So the question becomes, how much self-monitoring is best for optimal performance?

To answer this question, Dr. Daniel Gucciardi from the University of Western Australia looked at the putting performance of 20 golf pros under three conditions (January 2008, Psychology of Sports and Exercise). Golfers in the first group concentrated on three words having to do with their technique (e.g., ‘head’, ‘balance’ and ‘shoulders’); the second group concentrated on three words unrelated to putting (e.g., ‘white’, ‘black’ and ‘blue’); and the third group concentrated on one word which summed up the entire putting motion (e.g., ‘smooth’, ‘seamless’). When the golf pros putted without any pressure on them, their performance was similar – most did very well. Yet, when pressure was added in the form of cash prizes, the performance of the groups differed dramatically.

What Should You Think To Stay In The Zone?

Two of the groups performed very well under pressure: the group focusing on one word and the group focusing on words unrelated to putting. The group that focused on several words having to do with their technique performed poorly under pressure. These results were similar to a 1999 study by Lew Hardy from University of Wales. In other words, athletes who focus on a specific set of rules regarding technique during their performance (e.g., ‘keep head down’, ‘breathe every other stroke’ and ‘touch the wall with two hands’) are more apt to falter under pressure than those who do not have a specific set of rules in mind.

Focus on One All-Event-Encompassing Word for Best Performance

Therefore, the latest studies indicate that focusing on one word which idealizes the whole performance is best for achieving at a high level under pressure (e.g., ‘smooth’, ‘strong’, ‘beautiful’, or ‘effortless’). By concentrating solely on the All-Event-Encompassing word, the conscious mind is kept busy enough to prevent slipping into the thought stream which fouls up best performance. Yet, the All-Event-Encompassing word is sufficient to activate the automatic, unconscious muscle motor program.

Not too much, not too little.

Just enough.  

Smooth.

About the Author

Dr. John Schinnerer

Dr. John Schinnerer is in private practice helping people learn anger management, stress management and the latest ways to deal with destructive negative emotions. He teaches clients to seed more positive emotions in their life in an effort to get at Barbara Fredrickson’s 3:1 ratio for a happy, thriving life. His practice is located in the Danville-San Ramon Medical Center at 913 San Ramon Valley Blvd., #280, Danville, California 94526. He graduated summa cum laude from U.C. Berkeley with a Ph.D. in psychology. Dr. Schinnerer has been an executive and psychologist for over 10 years. Dr. John Schinnerer is President and Founder of Guide To Self, a company that coaches clients to their potential using the latest in positive psychology, mindfulness and attentional control. Dr. John Schinnerer hosted over 200 episodes of Guide To Self Radio, a prime time radio show, in the San Francisco Bay Area.  Dr. Schinnerer’s areas of expertise range from positive psychology, to emotional awareness, to moral development, to sports psychology. Dr. Schinnerer wrote the award-winning, Guide To Self: The Beginner’s Guide To Managing Emotion and Thought, which is available at Amazon.com, BarnesAndNoble.com and AuthorHouse.com.  

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