Why And How To Find Flow

Happy Monday, Footyfam!

Like always, it’s another great week.

Today we’re going to be talking about a superpower you’ve probably experienced

But maybe couldn’t explain it.

We’ll tell you how to access it and play the game more freely.

I’ll stop talking about it now so we can just get into it!

Footytutor Upload of the Week

Ligue 1.. McDonald’s?

Step to the side Uber Eats, the French top-flight is going to have a new name to go by.

We can’t say that it rolls off the tongue any better, though.

The fast food giants have offered up $65 million to be the new official name sponsor of Ligue 1.

For at least the next three years, get ready to call it

Ligue 1 McDonald’s.

Fifth place but on-par with champions

Tottenham aren’t having a bad season by any means.

They’re sitting fifth on the table currently and only a few points from breaking into UCL qualification.

However, this isn’t the most promising thing they have going on.

The Spurs have now scored in 39 straight Premier League games.

That’s second only to the 2001-02 Gunners, who scored in 55 straight games.

Even if Tottenham were to get shut out in their next match, I would say 39 straight is already extremely impressive.

The Secret Advantages of Flow

I’d bet money that you’ve seen this story before.

A team scores early in the match

And then another.

They hit 2-nil in the first 10–20 minutes.

Things slow down.

The opposition finds a break.

Suddenly, it’s 2-1.

Then 2-2.

It happens way too often.

You’ve probably experienced it before.

And we see it from the youth level to professional.

Why does this happen so much?

Simply put, they lose their flow.

What is flow?

Flow is a psychology term initially coined by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

It’s that sensation when you’re completely locked in.

You lose track of time and space.

Nothing on your mind except what’s in front of you.

No worries bring you down.

Your body seems to know what to do on its own.

As an athlete, this is the optimal state.

Although it’s only possible when the challenge and your skill level are perfectly aligned.

If your skill is greater than the challenge, you get bored and check out (exactly what happens to those teams that take an early lead and still lose).

If the challenge is greater than your skill, you’ll feel you’re behind and experience a state of anxiety.

When skill and challenge are aligned, it forces the mind and body to lock in to get the job done.

We can all remember a nail-biter that only seemed to last 10 minutes because there wasn’t time to think about anything else.

Or maybe it was a volley that you didn’t think about—your body just did it.

You get the point—that’s the mystical experience called flow.

It’s a superpower if you can create the conditions for it.

How to find flow

First things first, if you’re not in love with what you’re doing, flow will not take over.

You've got to enjoy what you’re doing.

With that out of the way…

The main goal of these steps is to make it recognizable to your mind that you need to lock in.

The more that you can find flow in training, the more likely you are to find it during a match.

Luckily, there are ways we can prime ourselves to enter flow.

Music

Music is an amazing tool to get us to the optimal anxiety level.

Some people want to bounce off walls, and others want to be cool as a cucumber (there really isn’t a better option; it's a personal preference).

Either way, it’s allowing us to tune out the noise and distractions that might take us elsewhere when we want to be focusing on the match.

Look at the pros in any sport, and you’ll see them with headphones while warming up or as they’re entering the locker room.

It’s a good idea to create a playlist to get familiar with the routine of hearing those songs and tuning into game time.

Pregame Routine

This goes pretty similarly to music.

Essentially, we’re trying to create a familiar experience every time so our bodies and minds know what’s about to happen.

This can be adding in foam rolling or some band-work in the locker room before you head out to warm up.

Or it can be making sure to get an extra sprint at the end of team warmups.

Again, there’s no right answer.

Whatever works for you is best.

Mindfulness

One of the major components of finding flow is being fully in the moment.

Mindfulness is the perfect way to prepare ourselves for this.

After all, mindfulness is the practice of being in and focusing on the moment.

Something as simple as taking seven deep breaths while focusing on your breath

Or doing a guided meditation you found on Youtube is going to be good enough.

It’s all about knowing how to bring your mind back to what’s in front of you when it wanders.

For when you’re ready to improve

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Until next time,

Footytutor