How Athletes Get Into A Rhythm

When you or an athlete talks about being in a rhythm, it likely means everything is coming naturally. There is little hesitation as they perform skills they’ve been training for years, perhaps decades, with automaticity.

Being in a rhythm is slightly different than being in a flow state. But it’s the same concept - quality self-talk, optimized focus, and high performance. 

You can’t be in a flow state all of the time. It’s like asking to feel happy 24/7 - you’re setting yourself up for disappointment. 

Instead, consider this concept of flow being on a spectrum, like on the graphic below.

On the far left side of the spectrum, you’re overthinking every little detail and performing way below your potential. On the other end, you’re in that highly sought after flow state.

If you’re not in a flow state, you can still be closer to the right side of this spectrum than the left side. It’s like feeling good and happy for 75% of your day. Sure, there’s room to feel better, but that’s still a great state of mind. Again, if your expectations are to feel happy 100% of every day, you’ll be frustrated just like you would be if you expect to play in a flow state every time you take the field.

In performance, if you’re this close to the flow state end of the spectrum, you’re doing something right.

The point of these tools is not to get into a flow state, in which case it’s a failure if you don’t. The goal is to move on that spectrum closer to the state of flow, leading to an upgrade in performance compared to you not using these tools.

Let’s talk about some factors that lead to this state of performing, and ways to help yourself get there. These factors stem from the data of renowned flow state researcher Mihály Csíkszentmihályi.

• Present-minded thinking

• If there’s one thing that everything says is common when being in a flow state, it’s that they’re absorbed in the moment. It makes sense that this leads to athletes’ best performances because they’re spending brain energy effectively - processing and responding to everything in the moment, not distracted by irrelevant sensory information or thoughts, like ones that take them back into the past or too far into the future.

• This makes it clear why it’s so important to learn psychological skills that help athletes ground themselves in the present moment.

• Challenge

1. Unless you’re an athlete who loves picking on weaker competition, you won’t get into a rhythm if you’re competing against lesser skilled opponents. Your mind unconsciously knows it doesn’t need to dedicate maximum cognitive energy to perform as best as you can because you’ll be victorious without needing to - and the brain hates to expend energy that isn’t necessary.

2. Likewise, if you’re competing against opponents who are way out of your league, your mind more readily accepts defeat and doesn’t feel like it’s worth working hard to take the loss that’s all but guaranteed. 

3. Getting into a rhythm and being absorbed in the moment is more likely when you’re in the sweet spot between too easy and too difficult - challenging.

• Clear Goals

1. Without clarity of what your goal is, it’s difficult to get absorbed in the task at hand. The goal could be simple; execute great technique, skate with your head up, or maximize power. They can be more complicated, like make the pro team or win the game. With complicated goals, you should focus on the simple goals that will lead you to the bigger ones in the end.

2. If you don’t have conviction and confidence that the work you’re putting in is moving you closer to your goals, you won’t get absorbed into the moment. Without the belief in your effort being worth it, you’ll have thoughts in the back of your mind dragging you out of flow.

• Immediate Feedback

1. This isn’t necessarily feedback from someone else, although that’s definitely one version. This can also be internal feedback. For example, you work on your form for a certain shot and immediately after you shoot, you think, “that didn’t feel right” or “that felt great, let me try and replicate that” as a result of the internal feeling you experienced measuring your form.

2. With feedback that comes quickly after a rep, or consistently throughout a shift, you’re able to get lost in a flow loop of continuously adapting and optimizing performance from shift to shift, second to second, or rep to rep. Without that immediate feedback, you might get lost deciding what’s best to do next. A lost, wandering brain rarely makes its way into flow state.

3. If you’re resistant to feedback and groan over the fact that you need to keep making adjustments, try changing your perspective - understand this feedback is not there to bring your self-esteem down, but to bring you closer to a flow state.

With this understanding of how to get closer to a flow state, the tools listed below are directly linked to these factors that move you into a rhythm, and possibly a flow state for some time.

• Grounding in the Present

1. There are many ways to ground yourself in the present moment, but it’s difficult for athletes to do this when it counts because of all of the pressure and sensory information you think about that overwrite this awareness. So, it’s first important to train awareness in your ability to notice when you’re not present.

2. Once you have this awareness, lock into your senses to bring yourself back into the moment. Notice the details and colors of what you see, the different sounds you hear, or what you can feel - inside your body and outside of it.

3. Another way you can lock into the present moment is thinking about W.I.N. - what’s important now? This is a quick way to provide actionable ways to strategize and maximize your performance in the moments coming up, like how to adjust technique or prepare against a specific opponent. When you think about W.I.N., it’s difficult to get lost in the past or jump far into the future.

• Challenge

1. In practice, consider if your training drills are too easy or too difficult. If they’re too easy, what’s one way you can make your next rep more difficult? Then, reassess the difficulty level. If it feels challenging, you’re in the sweet spot. If the drill is too difficult, drop your ego and make it easier so it’s challenging - not so difficult that you’re losing out on performance gains.

2. It’s more difficult to do this in games. It’s only realistic if your opponent is below your skill level (you’re not going to ask a really difficult opponent to chill out so you can get into a flow state). A great way to make an easy match more beneficial for yourself is to challenge yourself in ways that make it uncomfortable, but helpful. For instance, if you’re the type of player that needs to work on their defensive game, this would be a great opportunity to focus on this area of weakness. Other ideas include focusing more on communication, grounding yourself in the present, or playing with patience. A skill that you’d want to be better at when you find yourself competing against more difficult opponents. 

• Clear Goals

1. An excellent way to make use of imagery and visualization is using it to see yourself doing what you need to do to accomplish goals big and small. For example, seeing yourself winning battles for possession (small) and scoring (big). Imagine what it feels like to battle for possession, the sounds of the crowd, and what you see from a 1st-person point of view (like a go-pro is strapped to your forehead).

2. Pair this with the clear goals factor for getting into a rhythm by considering what your goals are for the game, each shift, or each practice rep. Then, visualize yourself for a moment beforehand, or for multiple minutes before a game, to have a clearer vision of what you’re working toward. With this, you’ll have more confidence in the face of adversity. Without that confidence, adversity can take you out of the moment, generate frustration, and ultimately move you in the wrong direction of the flow state spectrum. 

• Immediate Feedback

1. Once again, awareness is an essential psychological trait to build up. Identify moments where being aware of feedback is obvious and important, like in between training reps or during a timeout. Rather than letting your mind wander, instead decide to become aware of feedback you can use to your advantage - are your shoulders constantly shrugged, compromising posture? Is your heart rate out of control, allowing a deep relaxing breath to improve your muscle tension and state of mind for your next rep?

2. You don’t need to linger on this feedback for long. It might be the same thing multiple times you’re trying to get right. Or, you felt great and you’re just trying to replicate that same rep or shift - no need to overthink this.

Don’t feel the need to keep everything here in mind the next time you play or practice. You can do it step by step, increasing your capabilities of incorporating more elements of flow slowly but steadily. If you try and do all of this at once, you’ll likely forget important pieces, feel scatter-brained, and get frustrated. This leads many people to give up altogether because it felt difficult, rather than taking a more effective, slower approach.

If you’re interested in having your own sport psychology coach for individualized training, click the button below to schedule a free call with me to discuss your obstacles to success, learn about how I can help you, and determine if we’d be a good fit to move forward.