[Ads-l] Playerspeak: "in the zone"

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Here is a start. Researcher Mihaly Csikszentmihályi has popularized a
notion of "flow". A Wikipedia article notes: "Achieving flow is often
colloquially referred to as being in the zone."

It seems that Csikszentmihályi may not have used the phrase "in the
zone". He wrote a book in 1975 titled "Beyond Boredom and Anxiety". I
think he used the term "flow state". But I do not know when he started
to use that phrase.

The research of Csikszentmihalyi was mentioned in a 1986 "New York
Times" article that used the phrase "in the zone" and presented an
explication. But the article did not attempt explain the origin of the
"zone" expression.

Article: 'Zone' Is Winning Territory
Byline: HOLCOMB B. NOBLE
Newspaper: New York Times
Newspaper Location: New York
Date: September 5, 1986
Quote Page D15
Database: ProQuest

[Begin excerpt]
Studies by sports psychologists and close students of tennis are
taking much of the mystery out of why Ivan Lendl or Boris Becker or
the world's other great players always seem to win the big points.

The answer, according to the sports-related research, lies to a large
extent in the "zone," as the players call it. "Becker's in the zone,"
they say, or "Becker's zoning it"

The "zone" they refer to is roughly equivalent to what psychological
researchers describe as a level of concentration so complete and
intense that it evokes a state of almost semiconscious euphoria — one
that many believe bears a resemblance to hypnosis, and enables a top
player to achieve his or her peak performance.
[End excerpt]

Garson


On Fri, May 6, 2016 at 1:42 AM, Wilson Gray <hwgray at gmail.com> wrote:
> In some issue of Sports Illustrated from the last century, I seem to recall
> reading something similar to this.
> When the phrase, "in the zone," was fresh and new, an SI writer asked a
> basketball(?)-player what the source of the phrase was or what the "zone"
> was or something like that. The player answered that the inspiration for
> the phrase was Rod Serling's introductory spiel in which he stated that an
> episode of his show was something weird and unexplained that took place "in
> the Twilight Zone." So, when a player's game inexplicably became
> near-perfect, shots falling into the basket as though the ball had eyes, it
> seemed as bizarre as though it was happening "in the Twilight Zone," both
> to the player and to the other players.
>
> Anybody else have any facts or opinions on this?
> --
> -Wilson
> -----
> All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"---a strange complaint to
> come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
> -Mark Twain
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org