Tag: focus

Performance psychology

Finding Flow and the Freedom of Play

Dr. John Panepinto

(This article originally appeared in Tennis Pro)

During the stress of performance and competition, there is a strange tension between thought and feeling, and process and outcome, that stretches the routine constructions of the mind. Despite the innate wiring maintaining the equilibrium of mental functions, it can be hard to recognize when we immerse in patterns that lead to poor decision making. An awareness or thinking about thinking is a meta-process that allows reflection about choices and the roots of decision making. Then we are not automatons and can consider the ‘dialogue’ in mind, on our way to mastering the process of ‘noticing’ or being a level above the information.

To notice is to be a witness to the workings of our mind and body and is at the heart of self-awareness. This is the ultimate reason for reflecting on practice, competitions and life in general. In this practice of self-reflection, we can untie the knots that are barriers to progress, as well as intensify the aspects that are moving us forward.

The tension between process and outcome has a distinct influence on play, and therefore the quality of performance. If we take a moment to truly notice what is happening in play, we observe that when we feel we are playing at our best, the process is close to or in ‘flow’. Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi brought the concept of flow into light and has written numerous works on the topic. He described several elements of the state, but I would like to look at two in particular.

• Our sense of time transforms and either speeds up or slows down.

• There is a merging of our actions and our awareness so that we are not thinking self-consciously about performance. We are simply in it.

From these two elements, I want to suggest that in flow, we are experiencing play in a different way. First, in not being self-conscious, we are not critical of self and not engaging the cycle of thinking and feeling about outcomes. It is not that we don’t notice them, but rather they are part of an overall process and of a different quality.

Second, in flow we are truly in the present, a witness to actions rather than immersed in expectations. What happens… happens, and we continue to flow. A simple change in description may be helpful; products or outcomes are in phrased in the past or future, such as “I won” or “I lost” or “I want to win.” Process is phrased in the present, such as “playing” or “executing” or “moving.”

While this may seem a play on words, it is not. It is noticing the power of language and its impact on beliefs and expectations. The second you merge process and product, you begin to fool with your sense of time, as well as actions and awareness. The mind plays tricks and thinks the outcome can be “lost.” Feelings that accompany a sense of loss are then inevitable. But consider that in the moment you have nothing and therefore nothing to lose.

For the outcome exists in a future time – not now.

Now, I am not saying that you do not script, set outcome goals, visualize and mentally rehearse. These are all important and reinforce key mental and physical aspects of performance. What I am saying is to trust in the moment – in muscle memory, working memory, and other executive functions; focus on playing versus being played by the desire for an outcome. The moment desire enters the mental space it gets crowded, and tense, and the dialogue begins. For thoughts and feelings play an imaginary pinball game with the future and the past and invite desire’s closest friend – fear.

Consider a pure image of being in the present and deeply into the process — children playing. How free they are and absorbed in the moment without a sense of time. And though it seems like there may not be a plan or a progression, there is, for play is thematic and not chaotic. The major difference is that in the purest sense play is the goal in and of itself. Once you expect something out of the process, you are in a difference space. At times we may step back and measure to get a sense of where we are in the process, but the vital skill remains being able to let it pass and let go of any desire for the outcome to be now.

The present moment calls for competing, adjusting, executing, strategizing and the like. And in flow, the motivation is intrinsic and self-rewarding. In maintaining this perspective, you will find this space is one lacking in fear and pressure and all energy draining attributes. This has nothing to do with lack of caring, effort or intensity. It has everything to do with the freedom in this private space, and the beauty of meeting the moment as it arises.

For coaching and teaching players of all levels, we can inspire the process of ‘playing’ and promote improvement, growth and development. We can help athletes to notice thoughts and feeling and patterns of choices. We can use language that helps players notice the process that produces the outcome, as well as the conditions of flow. Goals and vision are extremely important for they guide the process. But, in the end, it comes to the only control we have…

What can you do right now?

Photo credit: Adam Kring, Unsplash.com

Mental Health, Performance psychology

Pressure

Dr. John Panepinto

Recently, one of the greatest athletes in the history of sports had a meltdown during an important stretch of one of the most important events of the year. Purposely, I am not naming names, because it doesn’t matter. This player is a champion who does the work, puts in the time and effort, and has a superior mental attitude. If there is such a thing as checking all the boxes, this athlete does it in every way possible.

Still, pressure caused an eruption, an emotional volcano, and a temporary lapse of direction.

I offer this piece for one reason.

The work is never done.

If you think fear is outgrown, or that demons can be locked away in the attic, or negativity is for the weak-minded—think again.

Everything exists in the tension of opposites.

You can’t set a goal without some sense of what failure is. You can’t perform well without knowing what poor performance is. You can’t be positive without the counterforce of negativity. You can’t make a good choice without knowing what the wrong one is. And conscience is all about informing us of darkness and light.

The heroic only occurs with a dragon to face up to. Pretending there aren’t any dragons is a fatal flaw. There will always be obstacles. The greater the task or adventure the more obstacles there will be. And the greatest challenge will be the one inside you. Best to be prepared rather than hope the obstacles don’t appear. Or worse, making believe they don’t exist.  

Take your mental approach to the next level with my sports psychology workbook: Above the Field of Play. Or to learn about other sports psychology services (including an assessment of your present mental approach), visit my website at DrJohnPanepinto.com.

Photo credits: Ben Turnbull; Caroline Pimenta; Gabriella Clare Marino– Unsplash.com

Performance psychology, Sports Psychology

Coping and Developing

Dr. John Panepinto

There are two important processes happening when you move towards a goal. The goal may not even be explicit as you make choices based on value all day long. And the goal could be to not have a goal. But these processes are even more noticeable when you do have an idea where you are heading.

Coping represents management in the short term. Developing represents leadership in the long term. Coping without developing can be a lifestyle. Same problems come round and round managed in some fashion in the moment. Same frustrations. The unspoken goal here is for things not to change, to get a different result for the same choices and behaviors. Tools and strategies have become buzzwords in this vein. “I need some tools to handle this.” “I use this strategy when…”

Problem is when you stay in this type of loop, it becomes a closed system. “I know my triggers” but neglect the possibilities of becoming something more. States become traits and you get stuck avoiding or coping with the same situations. Development, in this case, presents as the edge of discomfort and something to avoid.

Intention at the leading edge of growth is doing, being, or having something new and better. It has to be of higher value, or you wouldn’t call it a goal, wouldn’t be motivated to pursue the outcome or quality in the future. This is the essence of development and represents an open system. One that embraces the complexity of the flow between the internal and external qualities and experiences of life.

In an open system of development, frustration or dissonance is not a signal to stop or avoid. These emotions are just messages to tell you where you are in the development of a skill or mental capacity. You can only handle so much change and stress at one time, so coping in this case is regulating the process. You regulate the thoughts, feelings, and sensations without losing sight of the path ahead. You cope with frustration, confusion, or loss and know that if you continue to adjust, learn, and practice, you will develop. Every stage is like this. Every plateau is just a message that a rise (or fall) is ahead. It is up to you to interpret the experience from a future self.

With both processes working towards a future goal, obstacles are seen in a different light. In an open system they are assumed. You will meet challenges. You can handle them and use them to become smarter and stronger. That is the purpose of the problems faced on the path of development. Growth requires resilience and learned, embodied experience with the pull of the future guiding.

Finally, control feels quite different when you are open to the challenges of developing. In a closed system you avoid, discount, or dismiss experiences beyond the edge of control. While developing in an open system, a sense of control comes from trust in your ability to learn and adapt (smarter) and regulate the dissonance (stronger). It’s comfort with the discomfort at the edges of chaos.

photo credit: Jametlene Reskp unsplash.com

Performance psychology, Sports Psychology

Scattered

Dr. John Panepinto

It can be argued that the most important quality for performance is the fidelity of attention. Attention connects focus to motivation, all our mental models of performance, and goals. It’s the process of attending that taps into intention, learning, informing, decision-making, and growth.

Try this experiment. Take a ball and toss it in the shape of an arc above eye level and completely across your body to the other hand. When you get a rhythm, add another ball, tossing the second one higher or lower than the first. Now add a third.

There’s a reason it’s called “juggling.” The inexperienced juggler is trying to meld multiple tasks—one ball and one toss at a time. The experienced juggler is aware of the three balls in space and focused on the process as a one activity. If one of the balls goes offline, his hand “finds” the ball. The juggler has a sense of space and rhythm that makes the movement experience whole.

Likewise, the dancer is aware of the dance yet not the mechanics which have been internalized in rehearsal. There’s a sense of quality held together as a whole by rhythm. And the chess master sees patterns, not one move at a time, and sees checkmate well before the moves are made.

These skills and aptitudes are trained, honed with the highest quality of attention.

Training attention is a process. And multi-tasking is not a thing. Doing unrelated tasks, or marginally related tasks at the same time simply means you are shifting attention in time, focused on a single task at one time. Then shifting to the next task. It’s linear and not effective. And it scatters attention.

Try videoing the experience of multi-tasking. You will notice things you do not notice in real time. Stops and starts. Hesitation and noticeable pauses. Changes in rhythm and breathing. Like the first time you tried rubbing your belly and patting your head.

We live in a world that has compressed the time envelop. We want things now. Waiting doesn’t seem optional. And the competition for your attention increases noticeably—in shorter time frames. And sometimes without you noticing.

If you’re scattered when you are not competing, practicing, or performing, there’s a good chance the quality of your attention is less than in the important time frames of executing. Chances are you spend most or a good portion of your day not training, learning, practicing, or competing in your sport. But you are always attending. Because attending is a process and how well you attend is a quality.

Natural processes require fidelity. Fundamentals work this way. Try scattering your sleep, your eating, your relationships, your learning, or your trust…

It doesn’t work. The quality suffers as does the process (and, therefore, outcomes).

Intention informs attention. While each day has a rhythm and a structure that includes the highest priority activities, don’t underestimate the power of “paying” attention during the “in-betweens” or activities of seemingly low importance. Do what you are doing. And be present. And limit activities that scatter attention.

Over time you will notice a difference in attention in everything you do.

Photo credit: Oliver Hihn (unsplash.com)

Performance psychology, Sports Psychology

The Price of Not Paying Attention

Dr. John Panepinto

At any competitive level, attention, focus, adaptation, and resilience decide who moves on and who is left behind. They are the mental qualities and skills that are difficult to quantify and missing from the analytics. On paper, two teams or two individuals could look like a toss-up when you consider the measurables. Yet on game day, results reveal that intangibles can never be overlooked. And, therefore, intentional or otherwise, the unquantifiable qualities are an aspect of every training experience. In other words, you are moving forward because you are intentionally getting the most out of experience (learning, reflecting, adapting, improving)—or you are stuck in a headspace governed mostly by past patterns and mood (see the previous post, Bad day: What’s in a Name?). In this “stuck” pattern, others with similar physical skills and abilities are moving ahead. So, you really are never in the same place.

Attention is the cornerstone of development and performance. While this may sound like a bold statement, attention connects to every aspect of preparation and execution. We pay attention to what we value. We attend to what is meaningful and what we are aiming at. It can be no other way as our mind is goal-directed. Deeper, there is a nuance to attention that recent studies have helped to clarify. While this is very simplified, there are two modes of attention, representing different networks in the brain: The Default Mode Network (DMN) and the Task-Positive Network (TPN).


The Default Mode Network is where the mind goes when not involved in a task. The DMN activates during mind-wandering, thinking of self and relationships, episodic memory, other forms of mental time travel such as to-do lists, thinking of the trophy or thinking of losing in the middle of the event, or craving a cheeseburger. In other words, DMN is steeped in the narrative of the past or the future.

The Task-Positive Network activates during specific tasks in the present such as hitting a baseball, shooting a free throw, hitting a drive off the first tee, or writing an essay. TPN requires focus and alertness in the present, moving step by step through the process.

While this, again, is an oversimplification, you can say when one system is dominant the other takes a back seat. Why does this matter?

Attention to a task is expensive. And some research finds that our mind wanders nearly half our waking life (DMN). These major brain systems are part of an architecture that dates back millenniums. Best to work with them rather than make believe we can outsmart them.

Some coaches preach “the process” and “being present.” Sounds like the TPN and sounds like a great idea. But the DMN is termed the “default” for good reason. This system qualifies who we are and how we are over time—a necessity for survival and making sense of our story. Best to establish a rhythm to these modes, and best to engage awareness of the systems within the process.

The practical application of these networks during practice and competition starts with these building blocks:

  • Developing the skill: Awareness can be developed above these networks. In other words, we can notice whether our attention is not in the present (DMN) or is engaged in the process of a task in the here and now (TPN).
  • Noticing and Shifting: The rhythm of the sport will decide the ebb and flow of these networks. The important mental skills then become noticing and shifting based on this flow. Football, tennis, golf, and baseball are examples of sports having natural “breaks” between action and inaction (this does not mean that you aren’t processing or strategizing). A gymnast must practice engaging the TPN for longer time spans which vary (floor exercise versus the vault). You have the important task of identifying this rhythm for your sport.
  • Flow: The feel of “flow” is different in each of these modes. The DMN can be a space of great creativity, insight, and immersion. And the flow of TPN can be developed between and within practice sessions with mindfulness, visualization, and mental rehearsal.

Attention is a valuable resource intensified by clarifying goals and values. Understanding these modes and their place in mental processing can lead to leaps in your mental approach. Awareness of attention and “where” it’s aimed, can help you to continuously develop the ability to shift, reflect, and shift once more. Most importantly, these skills are not just required to develop sport-specific skills—but also resilience.