have you ever been in the zone?

[TitoFan]

I personally don't link it with religion. But there's definitely a zone in sports. I used to play baseball, and batting is given very much to "zones." That's where batting slumps come from (opposite of being in a zone)... or when you're on fire and seem to hit every pitch hard and for a base hit. Basketball, yeah. Shooting is totally prone to "zones." Usually teammates will just keep on feeding a guy who's in the "zone." Seems they could shoot it with their eyes closed, and make the basket. I've never boxed. But I imagine boxing has its own share of being in the zone.

[Spicoli]

I don't attach much religion to it but call the same description as hitting on all cylinders. When the multi-tasking, delegating and "putting out fires" is without thought or hesitation and keeping things moving. Instinct is sharp as a tac. Surprisingly that becomes more difficult as we get older . Sports itself is a trained repetition really, instincts to apply and react to the ever evolving environment from the very start. One with high level consequences either way. Not to cast it away but too many high profile athletes almost use religion as a crutch, a fall back for a phrase in a way. It's become cheapened if only in their appeal. I mean, in what world is thanking God and Don King in the very same sentence post fight considered sane.

[Yuzo]

I personally don't link it with religion. But there's definitely a zone in sports. I used to play baseball, and batting is given very much to "zones." That's where batting slumps come from (opposite of being in a zone)... or when you're on fire and seem to hit every pitch hard and for a base hit. Basketball, yeah. Shooting is totally prone to "zones." Usually teammates will just keep on feeding a guy who's in the "zone." Seems they could shoot it with their eyes closed, and make the basket. I've never boxed. But I imagine boxing has its own share of being in the zone.

there is an overlap between dopaminergic experience and religious experience. in the dopaminergic mind in human evolution and history, fred h. previc proposes that religion actually emerged from dopamine.

previc was a researcher for the united states air force where he was tasked to investigate spatial disorientation. what he found was that vergence shifts between upper and lower visual fields were causing pilot errors. for this he developed a model for the neuropsychology of 3-D space which puts forward that 3-D space is separated into sections which are managed by specific regions in the brain. specifically, extrapersonal space (which is described as distant, upward and outward space; a space for searching and discovering) and peripersonal space (which is described as nearby, downward and inward space; a space for inspection and tinkering) which we can experience whenever we reach out to grab something and then bring back the item to about nose level to lap level for analysis and review. but what he discovered was that the same regions in the brain that oversee extrapersonal space are the same regions that are involved in creating religious experience. specifically, the circuits in the brain that we use when we look out upon great distances are the very same circuits in the brain that we use to abstract heaven or eternity. you can read more about that in this paper.

whats tying the neuropsychology of 3-D space to the neuropsychology of religion mainly though is dopamine. consider that hyperreligiosity is often a feature of manic depression. during their manic phase (which according to previc "the ventromedial dopaminergic system" becomes "highly activated") manic depressives may think they are receiving divine messages. when we play sports the demand that we put onto the brain to process extrapersonal space may be at its greatest and therefore so too may be our ability to slip into the divine. when you are "in the zone" do you not feel that something is helping you?

[Master]

Being in the zone is a mental state that can be applied to more than sport but in most activities in life. Being in the zone means being at the top of your own game and the best that you can be.

To be in the zone your mentality would need to be total concentration and focus on what you want to achieve. You have to have the winning drive, defeat in not an option.

Your technique would have to be perfect and physically you have to be in the best shape you can be. You practice, gaining the experience and muscle memory of what you are training for so that it becomes ultra instinct like Goku.

When you are in the zone you can see everything and instinctively know what is coming. You adjust to every situation and have the perfect rhythm to execute everything precisely.

When you see someone in the zone they are self-assured, confident, calm, relaxed and in a Zen like state. They are truly achieving excellence.

[TIC]

the term euphoric comes to mind. i've been drunk before & been unbeatable on the pool table or at table tennis. other times just in good company, having a laugh & everything's just clicking

[Master]

the term euphoric comes to mind. i've been drunk before & been unbeatable on the pool table or at table tennis. other times just in good company, having a laugh & everything's just clicking

I can relate when I recently played pool match where I was under a lot of pressure. I felt I could not miss, the pockets looked huge, the cue ball was going where I wanted it to and I felt euphoric when I won.

[Yuzo]

theres a scene from when we were kings where muhammad ali gets up to shadow box and he gives a speech about god and boxing. with a very wild-eyed look on his face he says that when he is boxing he has "god in his mind" and that he goes on "autopilot" but can't quite get his words out. previc would have noticed that his eyes appear to be fixed on something far away in the distance.

heres the speech

When you are in the zone you can see everything and instinctively know what is coming. You adjust to every situation and have the perfect rhythm to execute everything precisely.

that must feel pretty good.

[Beanz]

I have definitely been in the friend zone, way too many times.

Seriously though, for me being in the zone is all about accessing your subconscious. All those techniques and skills that you can tap into without having to consciously think about deploying them. It is more than muscle memory but it involves that too. I have felt it so many times when improvising and jamming with other musicians. There is that unspoken common language that you can all tap into, and once you trust that and stop overthinking your playing becomes so much more fluid and dynamic.

It happens when composing and performing too. Sometimes you will have a wobble or what feels like a stumbling block, but if you can step over that and press on there is a point where everything starts to fall into place and builds momentum like a snowball. Does not mean what you are creating or performing is perfect, but it is much more than the sum of it's parts because you have used that internal voice and dialogue to be what some people may call 'your authentic self'.

You can see at in football (soccer) and other sports sometimes when a player becomes untouchable. Think of Gazza at his sublime best or Ronnie 0 Sullivan's 147 at the 1997 world championship. Everything you have learned up to that point is there at your feet or fingertips and you get to use it to respond to the situation and everything around you.

[Beanz]

[Beanz]