FLOW / 003 [CAN MINDFULNESS HELP YOU PERFORM UNDER PRESSURE?]

Question
Can mindfulness training help athletes experience more flow and less worry?

Study
47 competitive road cyclists and mountain bikers from Australian clubs, aged 16 to 67, were randomly split into two groups. One group followed an eight week mindfulness program designed for cyclists, including mindful sessions on the bike. The other group waited and got the program afterwards. On average, participants attended 6 of the 8 sessions.

Findings
The mindfulness group improved more than the waiting group in mindfulness and in how often they experienced flow. The biggest gains were in the conditions for flow: clear goals, clear feedback and feeling up to the challenge. They also became less pessimistic. Anxiety dropped in the mindfulness group, but it dropped in the waiting group too, so the program didn't clearly reduce nerves.

What It Means for Athletes
Mindfulness means paying attention to the present moment without judging it. It may not make your nerves disappear, but it can change how you deal with them, so they pull your focus away less. Keep the limits in mind: the group was small, the riders reported everything themselves, and the study measured how often they experience flow in general, not during a race or how fast they rode.

Try this: on your next easy ride or run, spend five minutes focusing only on your breathing and the feeling in your legs. When your mind drifts to results or times, notice it and bring your attention back. That bringing back is the training.

Source
Scott-Hamilton, J., Schutte, N. S., & Brown, R. F. (2016). Effects of a mindfulness intervention on sports-anxiety, pessimism, and flow in competitive cyclists. Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being, 8(1), pp. 85 to 103.

BEHIND THE SCIENCE
Translating sports science into information athletes can actually use.