Have you ever achieved the performance of your life while experiencing the feeling that it was effortless? That everything you tried worked to perfection? If you have experienced this, you were in The Zone.

The Zone has achieved mystical status in the world of sport and it is not surprising to see why. It’s a paradox. How can a peak performance be achieved with such little perceived effort? Surely if we are working at the very limits of our ability it should be hard work and not feel like a stroll in the park?

But why are our moments in The Zone both a rare and unpredictable occurrence – and for many, completely unobtainable. Accounts from athletes, combined with studies conducted on the subject, not only give us vital clues to what this mysterious state is; but more importantly, they may show us how to get there more often. From my experience of working with sports people I believe it’s a combination of attitude and, perhaps more controversially, modern training methods that help keep us out of The Zone.

One surprising fact I have observed in sports people of all abilities is that many use their bodies in a way that interferes with their natural coordination. The words elite athletes use to describe their moments in The Zone include effortless, flowing, mindful and sublime do not spring to mind when we think of your average training session. Obviously training is essential to development skills and fitness but are we doing the right sort of training?

I believe modern training methods serve only to encourage the sort of habits that ultimately keep you out of The Zone. Besides, how many more types of exercise do we need to learn? Do we really benefit from doing all these actions that have little in common with those of our sport, or, for that matter everyday natural movements? The emphasis is on effort and repetition but does performing in this way really promote coordination and the free flowing movement of The Zone.

I propose it is time to move on from the view that performance can be improved by simply trying harder or spending a high proportion of valuable training time on exercise drills. Instead, we need to develop a more creative, mindful approach to our training. Ask most athletes how they entered The Zone and you will get a shrug of the shoulders. Is this not evidence that, even at the top level, there is still an element of the unknown in relation to human activity?

Perhaps the way to The Zone lies in developing our skills of self-awareness above and beyond our current ability. A departure from current ideas may allow us to discover new areas of previously untapped resources that would give us more control over our performance. This would leave less to chance or circumstances beyond our current understanding and add a vital new resource to your existing abilities.

Roy Palmer is a teacher of The Alexander Technique and has studied performance enhancement in sport and running for the last 10 years. More information about his unique training techniques can be found by clicking Get into The Zone or in his new book Zone Mind, Zone Body available worldwide from Amazon and Barnes & Noble.