The sports fraternity in Pakistan has been frustrated and deeply concerned over the sports matters in the country for decades. Though enough has been written and said on the subject, no thoughtful and systematic effort has yet gone into the business of national sports in Pakistan, which has now become a laughing stalk in the eyes of the international sports community.

Our recent performance in Asian Games in China and pathetic performance by highly paid professional cricketers, who are more focused on working in cheap TV advertisements and TV talk shows, have opened a new Pandora’s box for serious-minded sports enthusiasts.

The purpose of this article is not to criticise the performance of Babar’s friends eleven in India or to put Babar’s captaincy under scrutiny which is already in front of sports analysts, nor do I want to criticize PSB, POA or able sports federations and boards responsible for progress of elite sports, because they lack capacity and resources to deliver anything worthwhile in the absence of a holistic vision, policy and qualified HR.

I feel sorry to tell my avid readers that my radar doesn’t pick an iota of improvement in the sports system of the country in years to come which is hijacked by self-praising, uneducated and egoistic sportsmen of the past, who have the tremendous ability to tell stories of their tactical brilliance, but they hardly contribute any value in the strategic development of sports in the country.

Before I write anything about the wheel of excellence in sports let me close my observation on the most popular national sport and pastime, cricket. The two greats of the game Rashid Lateef and Muhammad Hafeez on 24th of October 2023 at the national TV sports channel before the start of Bangladesh and South Africa one day match in Mumbai showed their serious concerns over the process of toss in the game of cricket, whose result is not shown to the viewers through close up by webcam before the announcement of toss result by ICC referee. I think this explains everything about the “circus of cricket” and its gray areas which are deeply impacting the popularity and credibility of the game worldwide.

The readers must be listening to the term of being in the “right zone of play” quite often from the experts during pre- and post-game analysis on different TV channels. But these experts have never explained the process of being in the right zone for the player.

To be in the right zone a player has to have necessary game awareness. He should be tactically strong and must possess self-belief and requisite physical and mental fitness. Despite all efforts players go through obstacles, challenges, setbacks, pad patches, uncertainties. They feel that they have meaningful reasons for doing what they are doing and are able to retain those reasons for doing it.

Any sportsperson interested in developing his zone of play must first understand the seven critical elements that guide you to personal excellence and you can come into the right zone in any competitive sport. These elements are focus, commitment, mental readiness, positive images, confidence, distraction control and ongoing learning.

Let’s briefly go through each of these elements. Remember that focus is the foremost element and it is the core of excellence, the center of the circle and the hub of the wheel of excellence. People who perform their best under pressure are not those who are tall and strong physically but they know how to focus under pressure.

Improving your focus allows you to continue to learn, experiment, grow, create, enjoy and perform closer to your maximum capacity. Excellence flows naturally when you develop confidence in your focus and know that your focus will take you where you want to go. Remember that consistent high-level performance depends on consistent high-quality focus.

The second most important part of the wheel of excellence is commitment. Commitment comes when you discover a pursuit that absorbs you, challenges you, or gives you joy. When you find something within a pursuit, or within yourself, that you are truly committed to developing, everything else grows automatically.

The player’s commitment will grow when your focus is centered on continuing to learn and grow, pursuing your dreams, making a meaningful contribution to the outcome of team results, and persisting through obstacles, even when they appear insurmountable.

If you like what you are doing and are able to remain focused and committed to it, you will become competent at it. Most performers who excel at the highest level of sports over extended periods have to love it. Most sportspeople who excel at the top level say that the pursuit becomes their passion and drives their lives for extended periods.

The next in the wheel is mental readiness. There is a big difference between talking about what you want to do and being mentally ready to do it. Mental readiness has everything to do with being positive, focused, persistent, and fully committed to acting on your intentions. Only focused action will take a player to his or her goal. Excellence blossoms when you want to be somewhere rather than when you feel that you have to be there, when you choose to do something rather than when you feel forced to do it, and when you see opportunities rather than obligations.

To excel in any pursuit in sports, you need to become mentally ready to think, focus, and act in positive ways. When you are mentally ready, you will find it much easier to learn essential performance skills, practise those skills to perfection, and perform those skills effectively under demanding conditions. Great performers have effective action plans or focusing routines that prepare them mentally to accomplish whatever they want to accomplish each day and act on the lessons learned.

No player can achieve excellence and reach the required zone if he or she lacks the capacity of positive imagery. Many great accomplishments, new discoveries, and seemingly impossible feats in sports begin with a single positive vision. Positive visions of what you want to accomplish and smaller visions of steps that you are going to take to get there can drive the pursuit of excellence.

Great players do not necessarily begin their lives or pursuits as great performers. They work at getting into a habit of seeing things in positive ways and imagining themselves performing and executing technical skills in the way that they would like to perform them. In fact, most of the best performers in the world have highly developed imagery skills because they use these skills daily to create the positive focus required to be in the zone of excellence. They draw on positive memories, recall the focus and feelings of previous best performances, and create positive visions for the coming performance.

Any player can experience the benefits of positive vision. Performing at a high level in your mind allows you to create the conditions for success without having actually executed those performances in the real world. This focusing process can enhance your confidence, focus, and performance, leaving you with positive feelings about yourself, your readiness for the competition and your capacity to do the things that you want to do.

Confidence is another essential ingredient that every player requires to be in the zone. Performance confidence rises or falls based on the quality of your preparations, the quality of your focus, and the extent to which you believe in your capacity. During the ongoing Cricket World Cup, you must have noticed that our batters are lacking confidence and self belief to play aerial shots in the first ten overs. This is happening not because the players lack skills, but in fact they lack confidence and self belief.

Pure confidence comes from feeling grounded in who you are and knowing in your heart and soul that you are capable of doing what you want to do. In the presence of pure confidence, you trust your focus and your performance soars. In the absence of confidence which is happening right now with the cricket team, you rarely touch your full potential.

The next most important part of the excellence wheel is distraction control. Distraction control refers to focusing through distractions or not letting distractions interfere with the quality of your performance. Some distractions are external, occurring from factors not under your direct control. In sports these distractions mostly come from fans, media, unfair umpiring or the opposition. Other distractions are internal, arising from your own negative thinking, doubts, worries, fears or unrealistic expectations.

Regardless of what kind of distraction you face, maintaining a positive connected focus before, during and even after performances is very important. Distraction control is especially important when you feel stressed, crowded, pressured, uncertain, or unappreciated, or are performing in demanding conditions.

Great performers activate positive shifts in focus by using simple reminders, images, or focus points that reconnect them with something positive that is within their immediate control. This process takes them back where they want to be, which is a positive mindset and a fully focused connection within the present performance moment.

When a player is distracted by negative thoughts, lapses in concentration, setbacks, or dips in confidence as we are observing amongst our present cricket team players in India, the goal of team management should be that players regain a positive perspective and reconnect instantly to their best focus. Players can learn to reconnect more quickly and effectively by reflecting on what works best for them to get back on track quickly. Fortunately, the Pakistan cricket team right now enjoys the services of a sports psychologist and it is his foremost duty to help players shun all the negative thoughts and regain their focus.

Last but not the least is ongoing learning. The constant high-level performers follow their best paths. Most of them are superb self-directed learners. The pursuit of excellence is a process of self-discovery and stretching limits.

Personal excellence results from living the lessons that you gain from your experiences. Great players attain high levels of excellence because they are committed to learning. They prepare well, focus well, deal well with distractions, do thorough post-performance evaluations, and act on the lessons that they draw from their experiences. They later grow from setbacks by channeling their lessons and energy towards their self-improvement.

Personal excellence is a life long journey for any sports person that brings focus, challenge, joy, frustration, and perspective to life. You can become an excellent player by mastering the skills of the game. But to become great, you have to conquer your own brain and emotions. The understanding of the wheel of excellence will help you improve your focus, boost your mental readiness, enhance your confidence and ultimately bring you in the right zone where you will be able to perform better and consistently under demanding conditions.

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