Flow State. Is it a Myth?

Flow State. Is It a Myth?

I don’t think so. But the idea is fairly vague and not particularly well defined. When it came to figuring out whether I’d ever been in a flow state before, I had to look back at some of my best experiences in Slopestyle and try to find common feelings between them. I also asked Chat GPT for a definition.

“Flow state is when your skill and challenge are perfectly matched, attention collapses into the present moment, and action feels effortless even though performance is maximised.”

One event where I felt closest to this was Block Party Slopestyle at Green Valleys Bike Park in 2023. I think the idea of flow was present throughout the few days of practice leading into the event, as well as on finals day.

I was working through the course feature by feature, as I usually do, starting with simple rotations and then adding combinations until I had a run planned that I was happy with. At the time, I don’t think I noticed it, but the entire practice went unusually smoothly. A normal practice unfortunately includes several crashes, or at the very least some miscalculations of speed and airtime. Looking back, I had almost none of that. The plan stayed the same, and before I knew it, it was finals day.

My finals run followed a similar pattern, but felt even more effortless. My memory of the run, even on the day, wasn’t very clear at all. It’s almost like my body, training, skills, and course preparation took over, leaving me with a front row seat to the whole thing.

Now, this is all great when it happens. But that’s one event out of about 15 competitions I’ve done. The real challenge is trying to replicate that state, or at least get as close to it as possible.

There are a few parts of the definition that I think can help with this. The first is that skill and challenge are perfectly matched. Being right at the limit of your capabilities and leaving nothing on the table. This is obviously easier said than done. There’s a lot of risk, preparation, and also luck involved. You might crash in practice and have an injury to manage, meaning you’re not at 100%. Or a part breaks on your bike and you’re forced to ride something unfamiliar. Same result.

Another thought is that there has to be sufficient competition for flow to occur. The challenge needs to be at your level. If the challenge feels easy, your skill isn’t truly being matched.

The second major part of the definition is the collapse of attention. Being solely focused on the task at hand, with nothing else diverting your focus. This is the harder part, and likely why flow is so difficult to replicate. Just living life requires your attention to be spread across many things. To then block all of that out at a moment’s notice is rare. Sitting at the top of a course thinking about what you’re having for dinner or how you’re getting back to your hotel isn’t exactly ideal when you’re about to take significant physical risks.

So what can I do to make flow state more likely? Both physically and mentally, there are still things I can control. Physically, I can train to a level where my 100% skill capacity is enough to meet the challenge ahead. Mentally, I can work on keeping external distractions out of my attention during a competition week, letting my mind focus on one goal.

So no, I don’t think flow state is a myth. But it is very hard to replicate. I don’t think anyone can force it to happen, you can only take steps to make it more likely. And when it does happen, soak it in.