© 2011 Yuchin Nie
Confidence is an obvious trait of scorers, but Aoyagi prefers a different word: trust. "The Mind has to trust that the Body can do what its been trained to do." This allows the mind complete control the body within a state psychologists call flow.
Flow refers to "a harmonious experience, where mind and body work together effortlessly." In sports, this is often referred to as "being in the zone." Athletes describe losing their sense of time, where the outside stresses of a game, such as defensive pressure or physical exertion, aren't daunting. These are the best feeling moments as an athlete, or indeed any master of their craft.
Athletes perform the best when they're in this state, although it can be frustratingly elusive. Achieving flow isn't as simple as trying 110%, or even extensive preparation, though both effort and practice is essential. "It's important to realize that what you believe you can do will determine your experience more than your actual abilities." Without confidence in your abilities, without the mind trusting the body, you cannot realize your ultimate potential.
Great scorers have to trust themselves. They have to be hyper- confident, because scoring opportunities are rare. They also have to have the ability to forget their past misses: a moment of hesitancy can obliterate the athlete's flow, drastically decreasing their ability to improvise around the game's roadblocks. A tenth of a second hesitation can mean a goalie recovering into a cor- rect angle, or a timely jab from a beaten defender.
If and when this mind/body trust is damaged, the scorer must return to where they started: fundamentals. They must remind themselves that they can indeed drill the ball top-left corner without hesitation on a strong-side strike, or tap the ball one- time around the keeper's expecting pad off a vicious cross. They must remind their mind what proper balance feels like, how the stick should grip their palms, how to step and shift their weight, and where to perfectly place the ball with that last touch, before striking without regret.
For further information in greater detail on the concept of Flow, read Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and Susan Jackson's, Flow in Sports.
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