Essay on The Flow

Document Type:Essay

Subject Area:Psychology

Document 1

Some hallmarks of the “flow state” include losing track of external concerns, stimuli, or time. They are likely to feel connected to something more important and much greater than themselves, and feeling challenged (Han, 2015). However, they are not overwhelmed by what is happening in their lives in terms of attention and ability that is required for them to complete the tasks. The characteristics and features of the state cut across activities and across cultures. Apart from the fact that the phenomena of flow have been linked to outrageous positive and excellent performance in sports, it has also been described as a state of mind that provides sports people with a meaning of their life (Schüler & Nakamura, 2013). He says that he has been an athlete all his life.

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From a young age, he says he was the fastest kid in the grade and he believed that athletics would be his career. He has won several tournaments. He says that he registered his best performance because he was so determined. Also, pre-game preparations such as not talking to anyone before getting on track greatly influenced his success. For example, if he had a bad day, he has to fix things by adjusting and forget the bad things before he can get back to normal. The interview lasted 29 minutes 30 seconds. The second athlete was a 22-year-old female who started playing soccer at the age of 16. She says playing as midfielder, defense, goalkeeping. She provides an example of a game on his 18th birthday against their biggest rivals, she had never been a goalkeeper before, however, she has been interacting with goalkeepers.

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Playing with longtime friends and saying prayers before they can start is also important for their success. when experiencing flow, she feels physically great. Being self-confident, motivated, and being ready have great impacts on making her get into the flow. She feels she is in control when in the flow and that no one can disrupt her. She assumes her goal as her property and has to guard it. He believes the motivation of a player starts with mental stimulation and that stopping mentally leads to stopping physically. He believes flow comes naturally and that he experiences flow frequently. One incident that made him not to get into the flow was when his mum was in the hospital, it was difficult for him to concentrate on the game and things were not well including his passes until the coach substituted him.

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The presence of the mum in every game is part of his motivation. Other factors making it easier to get into the flow are pre-game circumstances. Team managers should be able to identify how to create a positive team culture and probably bond them so as to boost the team confidence. Other authors describe the zone or flow as a state in which a player or an athlete performs to his maximum potential. It is a condition in which performance is consistent and exceptional, flowing and automatic (Hung, 2015). The three athletes identified with the above conditions and feelings during the flow. In such a situation, an athlete can ignore all the pressures and allow his body and mind to deliver optimal performance (Mikicin, 2012).

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The response from the three athletes makes it clear that the flow or being in the zone has a great impact on the performance of the game. It is important that coaches and team officials prepare players to get into the flow zone in order to positive great results. One aspect that two of the three athletes interviewed said that the mood of the team had a great impact towards team success. Their explanation is that they feel the urge to perform their best results when they realize that other team members are also doing their best. It is therefore important for coaches to make pre-game preparations by creating a positive mood to enable the players to remain motivated throughout the game.

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