Whether it’s handling a puck on the ice, performing on stage or writing an academic paper, everyone’s experienced the feeling of getting in the zone — or when “mentally, you’re just so dialed into the game that it’s just coming naturally,” as explained by junior Gavin McCarthy, Boston University men’s ice hockey defenseman and team captain.
Coined by psychologist Minhaly Csikszentmihalyi in 1990, “flow” is a state of focus where one has “absolute absorption in an activity.”
“Peak performance, experiencing the flow and the zone, are psychological states where people feel confident. They are in the present moment. They don’t overthink,” said Edson Filho, a BU associate professor of sport, exercise and performance psychology.
Filho published a research study Sept. 4, in which he tested interventions on an international-level dart thrower with the aim of unlocking this state of mind.
Filho said he was in England when the 32-year-old dart thrower emailed him with a question: How could he minimize his anxiety and maximize “flow” during competitions?
The dart thrower, referred to as “Tom” in the study, reported experiencing performance anxiety and shaky hands during important competitions, especially in the final shots of a game, according to the study.
To find ways to maximize what Filho determined to be instances of “flow,” he and Tom engaged in a series of online conversational sessions for four months leading up to his next major competition — a World Cup qualifying event.
Filho conducted many psychological interventions on Tom, such as imagery exercises and discussions around motivation and perfectionism.
Filho also worked with Tom on positive self-talk and “resetting” after a bad throw.
While his issues were not fully resolved, the interventions helped him reach some of his goals, according to the study. At the end of the four-month series of sessions, Tom’s average score in dart throwing rose from about 80 points to 95 points. At the World Cup qualifier, he averaged 93 points.
Filho said he hoped the study’s results will help fight the stigma that mental performance is not as important as physical performance.
“It is important that we fight stigma against psychological interventions,” he said. “A lot of people have no problem engaging in physical training, but it is also important to do mental training.”
Filho emphasized the importance of seeking a professional consultant for similar issues because finding flow is a different process for everyone.
“People are different,” he said. “They have different experiences, skills, personalities, stories, cultures, so it has to be individualized interventions.”
Jack Harvey, a junior at BU and a forward on the men’s ice hockey team, described flow as a state in which one completes a task with ease, and without thinking about it.
“It kind of seems like everything is happening, and you’re not really forcing anything, and it’s just kind of working out for you,” he said.
McCarthy added that the feeling relies on instincts.
On game days, McCarthy said he has the same pre-game routine: He wakes up at the same time, goes to the rink in the morning, gets food and sits through pre-game meetings and rink warm-ups. Afterward, he goes home and takes a nap.
“When you do the same thing over and over again, it takes the thoughts out of your head, and you kind of just act on instincts,” he said. “And I think that’s a big thing, for flow state just to come naturally.”
McCarthy said he understands the appeal of the psychological interventions that Tom underwent.
“Every athlete wants to try things to make them perform better,” he said.
Filho was first drawn to sport psychology and finding the flow because he “loved” the feeling when he played soccer growing up. Now, he can help others feel the same.
“I just love that feeling of, you’re totally present, you’re totally focused, you’re totally relaxed,” he said. “I was just fascinated by that, and I think that’s where a lot of people want to be.”
