Flow and the Optimal Experience
One of the main goals of mental training would be to achieve optimal experience or what many would call “flow.” Flow can be described as …a delicate balance between skill level and challenge. If the demands of the activity are greater than one’s skills, then a state of anxiety is a result. If skill level exceeds the situational challenges, boredom will result. A flow state includes the achievement of a positive state void of either of these conditions. In regards to mental focus and ability, athletes can create similar processes especially in practice; the more likely they are to experience this state (Judge, 2011).
Why Flow?
Flow
So how can this help?
How can an athlete reach flow?
2) Action- awareness merging. The mind and body become unified and effortlessly work together to produce movements with little thought.
3) Clear goals of the tasks to be accomplished
4) Unambiguous feedback. This feedback can be internal (from feeling a response of movements) or external (from coaches, opponents or peers). This feedback shows that the athlete can perform well within the competition through positive feeling or statements.
5) Concentration on the task at hand. The ability to keep the mind focused on task and performance.
6) Sense of control. The belief that the athlete has the required skills to accomplish the task in front of them.
7) Loss of self-consciousness. Loss of concern for self and actions other than the task at hand.
8) Transformation of time. The athletes perception of time changes and becomes less relevant. Time may pass more quickly during tasks.
9) Autotelic experience. An experience we participate in for our own pleasure and is intrinsically rewarding. (Jackson & Csikzentmihalyi, 1999, p. 16-31).
What can the coach do?
Why Flow?
- The father of Flow, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, describes the situation,“….contrary to what we tend to assume, the normal state of mind is
chaos. Without training, and without an object in the external world
that demands attention, people are unable to focus their thoughts for
more than a few minutes at a time… the better route for avoiding chaos
in consciousness is through habits that give control over mental
processes” (Csiksentmihalyi, 1990, p,119-120).
Flow
- There is much overlap between flow and peak functioning, but they are not interchangeable. When athletes experiences flow, they may not have achieved peak performance, but if they have achieved peak performance, they are likely experiencing flow (Stavrou et al., 2007, p. 440)
- Stavrou's reasoning is that the feelings of optimal experience are found within the athlete’s psych, whereas peak performance is related to the athlete’s physical abilities.
- The feelings of optimal experience are not always based on performance or outcome, however they can be related to performance and outcome.
So how can this help?
- The optimal state of performance can vary by individual, but having greater control of thoughts and desires might enable the athlete to more frequently experience 'flow'.
- The controls of thoughts and desires, supports mental training and is important for more than just skill development, it can also enable the athlete to have a greater experience overall.
- If athletes are able to keep their thoughts within certain parameters, they may have a greater opportunity in achieving a flow state. Achieving flow while participating in activities provides a sense of discovery, a creative feeling of transporting the person into a new reality, pushing the person to higher levels of performance and leading to previously undreamed-of states of consciousness (Csiksentmihalyi, 1990, p. 74). If athletes are able to control mental chaos and focus on a given task, they may be able to enter flow on a regular basis. But this ability takes practice.
- Achieving flow while participating in activities provides a sense of discovery, a creative feeling of transporting the person into a new reality, pushing the person to higher levels of performance and leading to previously undreamed-of states of consciousness (Csiksentmihalyi, 1990, p. 74).
- Jackson and Csiksentmihalyi (1999) point out that athletes who prepare themselves by working to improve skill levels in sport, finding a balance between challenge and skill, will increase their potential for flow experiences.
- If an athlete has failed to complete the necessary training, they know it. In this situation, flow is unlikely to occur (p. 6, 57, 59, 81). There are also several “parameters” for achieving flow.
How can an athlete reach flow?
- In order for an athlete to achieve a flow state, there must be a set of components that need to be met.
2) Action- awareness merging. The mind and body become unified and effortlessly work together to produce movements with little thought.
3) Clear goals of the tasks to be accomplished
4) Unambiguous feedback. This feedback can be internal (from feeling a response of movements) or external (from coaches, opponents or peers). This feedback shows that the athlete can perform well within the competition through positive feeling or statements.
5) Concentration on the task at hand. The ability to keep the mind focused on task and performance.
6) Sense of control. The belief that the athlete has the required skills to accomplish the task in front of them.
7) Loss of self-consciousness. Loss of concern for self and actions other than the task at hand.
8) Transformation of time. The athletes perception of time changes and becomes less relevant. Time may pass more quickly during tasks.
9) Autotelic experience. An experience we participate in for our own pleasure and is intrinsically rewarding. (Jackson & Csikzentmihalyi, 1999, p. 16-31).
- Meeting these components, in varying degrees, gives the athlete the best chance to enter a flow state.
- Some of them are also more challenging to predict or control without much practice, but it is important to comment on a few that will be more easily to achieved and the athlete might be able to have more power in creating a situation that can be created.
- Of the nine dimensions the relationship between challenge and skills is considered the golden rule (Jackson & Csikzentmihalyi, 1999, p.16).
- In order to meet the criteria for this component, the athlete must be performing skill that is at the upper end of their ability levels.
- If the challenge is too high or too low, the athlete may experience feelings of anxiety of boredom.
- These feelings are similar to the situational characteristics described by Puni in an article about athlete readiness to perform, mentioning that athletes would experience “fever or apathy” in situations that were too low or too high in comparison to their skill levels (Stambulova, Wrisberg, Ryba, 2006, p. 176).
What can the coach do?
- Coaches have the best chance of helping the athlete by trying to ensure the athlete can meet the balance between skill and challenge.
- In order to help the athlete, the coach should work to regulate practice and competition experience so the athlete is given the right amount of challenge for their ability level.
- The coach can dictate which athletes might be partnered for skill development. This way, the athlete can still be successful when attempting new skills and avoid being overwhelmed by the challenge of a far superior athlete.
- The coach can also choose which athletes might be ready to perform on a higher level stage, i.e. varsity, junior varsity, tournament teams. This will allow the athlete to have a better chance of staying within their skill range or being moved up to a newer challenge when they are ready.
- The coach can also give different athletes higher standards to achieve in order to give the athlete new levels to work towards. These challenges might allow the athlete to push themselves to meet individualized standards of skill and performance.
- These standards can be performance based, having the athlete work towards different levels of proficiency (improve from 6 to 8 rebounds out of 10).
- The standards can also be skill based. The athlete can be required to refine quality of movement and skill.