Zoning it

You don’t have to be in the Zone to win championships ... but it helps!

This of course is true. With majors in golf or grand slams in tennis in particular, where the pressures on the individual are huge, that 90% in sports that Yogi Berra talks about being “mental”, really comes to the fore.

The thing about all “world class type” events is that they take place over a period of time, a number of days, and that is what makes the level of competition so compelling. At the Wimbledon Tennis Championships a player can play an amazing game in Round 4 for instance, being in the Zone over a goodly part of their (probable) 2-3 hours on court – and yet then not replicate that form in their next round match. Similarly in the four rounds of a major golf championship, a lot of it is more about consistency than Zoning. Intense zoning sometimes does happen over a number of the days of competition, and on these occasions one player will usually be SO dominant that their winning position is unassailable and they blow away all the opposition, regardless of quality.

There are however two sides to maintaining a high level of performance consistency, and in all sports – whether individual or team sports – it is what marks out champions from the rest.
To re-quote Yogi Berra here – “90% of baseball is mental, and the other half is physical” – and for baseball read all sports.

The two sides of maintaining your Inner Game are:

·         Dealing with the pressures

·         Playing in the Zone

The top tier of world rankings are a reflection of a player’s consistency, and the level of the above two factors they bring to their game – given that they match each other in technical ability and fitness.

We were all somewhat amazed at Rafael Nadal’s win in Indian Wells 2013 – his first comeback tournament after a long injury lay-off. However he was only out of the game for reasons of physical breakdown, and his above mentioned mental strengths were untouched. Of course, part of his rehab can be referred to as “dealing with pressures” – and, as we know, that is one of his supreme strengths. Once physically back to where he wanted to be, the above two factors in his “A-Game” did the rest and I, for one, was not surprised.

Of course our chances of playing in the Zone more often go up dramatically if we can consistently deal with the pressures. And that level of ‘dealing consistently’ comes with understanding where those pressures are really coming from.

The US Masters

Last Sunday saw the final day of this year’s US Masters in Augusta, and as I watched the contenders from my armchair comfort (it was raining at the course), I felt a sense of anticipation that something of special interest would be in the offing.

There was the customary ebbing and flowing of players’ fortunes on the leaderboard, hole by hole, and all the while – in the background – I sensed those two major mental game factors were conducting this vast sporting orchestral performance.

Over the last few holes, two players – Adam Scott and Angel Cabrera – emerged as dealing best with all the pressures, and, as witnessed on the 18^th hole, both were playing in the Zone. For me this was enthralling – extra special, if you like, in spectator terms. Here were two guys at the very top of their game in the moment. Interestingly, how I witnessed it, each one’s version of their Zone was different. Yet it was clear to see that that was where they were.

So the competition went to a sudden death play-off. And yet it didn’t start straight away! For me as a spectator it seemed to take an age before they got out on the course to play the first sudden death hole. How would they react to this distraction, the unsmooth transition from each of their “highs” of landing difficult putts to birdie the 18^th hole? And all this was taking place in failing light and wet, soggy conditions, where they were each armed with towels, umbrellas etc.

The consistency at dealing with pressure and the remaining in the Zone continued for each as they matched each other at the first play-off hole – and so they continued to the next one, where the intense and high drama of quality competition unfolded once more. “Who would crack first,” I was thinking, because in these situations it IS usually about that.

But this time it was about who WON it, rather than who LOST it. Angel Cabrera’s next putt was about as close as it gets without actually going in the hole – and we all watched spellbound as Adam Scott sank his putt.

It was a jaw-dropping moment, almost immediately followed by Cabrera’s celebration with and for Scott, which was equally compelling in sporting terms. However he may reflect on his disappointment, in the moment he was authentically overjoyed for his opponent.

There has been much said about how Adam Scott had overcome his disappointment at The Open Championship 2012, where he had ‘bogeyed’ the final four holes to lose an ‘unassailable’ lead, and of course that would have been one of his own particular pressures as the final moments of this drama unfolded.

However, that is how champions become champions since – prior to those moments – they are just players.

I always chuckle at the media interviewers in these moments because they always ask the same question, which actually points us all away from what has really been happening in the moment.
“So, what were you thinking as you played that shot?”

Understanding where those pressures are really coming from, as I said earlier, is the difference that makes the difference. Things on the outside have happened, do happen, and will happen – one way or another. We make our own pressures, and then react to those pressures so adding more pressures! On this day at Augusta, both were winners because they were impervious to the pressures and were both in the Zone.

 

Read the BBC's report of the final day at the US Masters