Psychological States Underlying Excellent Performance in Sport: Toward an Integrated Model of Flow and Clutch States

Abstract

This study investigated the psychological states underlying excellent performance in 26 athletes (M_age = 29 years, SD = 7.7) across a range of sports (team, net/wall, sprint, endurance, adventure) and standards (world class to recreational). Participants were primarily interviewed on average 4 days after excellent performances. The data were analyzed thematically. Distinct states of flow and clutch were reported, each of which occurred through separate contexts and processes, while athletes also transitioned between states during performance. These findings extend current knowledge of the psychology of excellent performance and are discussed in terms of implications for future research and applied practice.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors express gratitude to the editor (Professor Steve Mellalieu) and two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on the manuscript throughout the review process.

Notes

1 These dimensions are (1) challenge-skills balance, (2) clear goals, (3) unambiguous feedback, (4) action-awareness merging, (5) concentration on the task at hand, (6) sense of control, (7) loss of self-consciousness, (8) time transformation, and (9) autotelic experience (see Swann, Piggott, Crust, Keegan, & Hemmings, 2015 for a review and discussion).

2 These definitions were based on awareness of those used by researchers previously (e.g., Jackson, 1996; Hibbs, 2010; Otten, 2009), and athletes’ descriptions of these states (e.g., Swann et al., 2016).