Underdogs Upset Top Dogs With Flow
Edition 45
"Jack Salt wins the opening tip for the Cavaliers...
It's all tied up at half at 21…
What just happened to Virginia?"
That was a blast from the past in March Madness, 2018.
When UMBC (16 seed) beat Virginia (1 seed). They kicked open a can of whoop-ass, winning by 20 points. It was the first time a 16 seed won in NCAA tournament history.
I think "flow" helps explain why.
According to The Father of Flow, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, flow is a subjective state people experience when completely immersed in an activity.
It’s “being in the zone” and it happens when you’re challenged. It’s what UMBC felt.
You won’t experience flow if you expect an easy win. You’ll expect boredom and experience relaxation. Then, you’ll have an “oh s**t they’re better than we thought,” moment, try to jump to the flow state but it doesn’t work like that. You’ll go from relaxed to anxious to worried. I suspect this happened to Virginia.
But, if you’re confident in your ability and expect a fight, you’ll put yourself in a great position to experience flow. And when you do, you might just catch fire…
Like when UMBC had a 50% 3-point percentage against Virginia, shooting 12 of 24. While Virginia shot at an 18% clip, shooting 4 of 22.
The underdog who’s confident in their ability to compete often beats the team thinking they won’t be a challenge. In the case of UMBC and Virginia, the confident David beat the overconfident Goliath.
Underestimate your opponent and you'll fall prey to the prepared.
*Cough cough, Virginia*
In their book, “Flow in Sports,” Csikszentmihalyi and Jackson say, “Your subjective perception (of the challenge at hand) predicts flow.”
Now, we can’t change the level of our opponent. But, we can change our perception about them and ourselves.
Switch your goal from winning to playing to the best of your ability. This makes every game a challenge no matter the level of your opponent. Winning happens as a byproduct.
By doing this, your outcome-based goal switches from partly out of your control, to something that’s process-based and within your control.
Never think, “If we show up, we’ll win.” If you do, you won’t.
I can’t imagine Virginia expected UMBC to be a challenge. In a post game interview, Virginia’s senior forward said he didn’t even know the name of UMBC’s point guard (At 1:07).
If you don’t go into a game expecting a challenge, you’ve already lost.
Thanksgiving was yesterday BUT, I’d like to say THANKS to these turkeys…
, Gary and Deanne Gute, and Jacob Kurt for their feedback on this piece! (WOW, was that cheesy haha. I cringed writing that).See you next week,
Dylan Kurt
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...love this thought...we can’t change the level of our opponent. But, we can change our perception about them and ourselves....to beat anyone we got to beat ourselves first...the warrior is within us...super rad Dylan, nice piece!...