The Zone

There is a commonly use expression amongst sports people regarding "being in The Zone". This is usually interpreted as operating in a place of maximum effectiveness where results seem to come easily with minimal effort. I am not a sports physiologist or psychologist but I think I have found myself in this place on a number of occasions so here is my take on the journey there.
Imagine a blue line running from left to right on a graph. This vertical axis represents efficiency and the horizontal axis represents time. Time can be measured in minutes, hours or whatever makes most sense to the sport in question. In this case lets imagine the time measure is number of fencing matches. In my experience the shape of the blue line will be like a hill. Effectiveness will grow with the number of fights and eventually drop away as fatigue sets in. A number of factors will affect the shape of the hill. The fencer's fitness, the quality of the opponents, the delay between bouts etc but in general it will conform to a standard pattern. The task of the serious fencer is to get up the hill as soon as possible and stay there as long as they can! In my case I normally find that I fence acceptably in my first fight, get a little better in the second and then only really hit my stride in the third, fourth and fifth. It seems to me that after about 25 hits I am usually in the optimum zone where things seem to feel pretty good. Unfortunately things start to get worse after about 35-40 hits and I have to start modifying my appraoch! In the club at the moment we have a 'winner stays on system' which can mean continuous fencing for the person on form that evening. I think this is a good system as it means that it takes you nearer to your limits. In any form of training or exercise the real benefits only come when limits are pushed sensibly. Muscles only grow if they are reasonably tested; heart and lung function only strengthens if the heart rate and breathing are pushed to new (but safe) levels. A lot of the time club fencing is a case of one match then wait for 20 minutes until the next one. This is not the way of improving performance so you need to find a way of safely pushing yourself beyond your existing limits. Only then will you find and increase your zone!
I also believe that there is another line on the graph which represents mental focus, the point on which you are solely absorbed in fencing to the degree that you are not thinking about it, you are just doing it. For me, this graph runs down from left to right on a diagonal track, levelling out and meeting the blue line around the third fight. Only then have I shaken of the concerns of the working day to a degree that I can 'just fence'. It's a great place to be and it's the place we should aim for every time we get out on the piste.