Coaches and athletes are masters at learning to give themselves fully to the event that is happening right now, without trying to replay yesterday or preplay tomorrow. Just play today's game today. Whatever it is called, coaches and athletes are masters at focusing energy, attention, emotion, and action on the actual event they are involved in at the moment. As masters of living in the present, coaches and athletes are also masters at recognizing the difference between performance in practice and performance in competition. In swimming, for example, there is a beauty to fast practices and there is a beauty to fast Meets, and they are not the same beauty.
Similar distinctions exist for other sports.
However, because the two kinds of beauty are not the same, a beautiful practice never guarantees a beautiful competition. Coaches and athletes know that the athletic world is just that simple and just that tough. Coaches and athletes know that Peak Performances are not permanent. Coaches and athletes who follow answers one though five listed here can and frequently do reach the 'zone. Reaching the zone can happen in both practice and in competition.