Hi @Chris Lubé , if you haven’t already, I’d really recommend reading Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. I think quite a bit of what you’re describing will resonate. I’ve touched on some of this in a few articles I've written on my website too, mainly around attention, Self 1 and Self 2, having a clear picture, and what we carry from one shot into the next. https://www.petanquejournal.com/en/journal/ For me, the interesting bit is probably less about trying to force flow, and more about understanding what helps create the right conditions for it to happen. Really interesting subject though! I’d be interested to hear what others have found too.

I’d say tension and stress are almost impossible to remove completely. You can certainly reduce them in certain moments, and a pre-shot routine you trust will help you return to something familiar, settle yourself and start the next shot afresh. For me, I listen to what my body is telling me. I might feel my muscles tighten slightly or notice my heart rate suddenly pick up. I treat that as information. My body understands the importance of the moment. Those signals have become a trigger for me. I know my natural tendency in those moments is to speed up and rush the movement. Simply noticing it changes what I do next. I walk up slowly, take a slow breath in and out, and return to what I’ve practised. For me, that means slowing the throw down, feeling the movement and appreciating the finish. My focus becomes simply throwing the boule well and with control, rather than worrying about the result. In those important moments, I almost feel a heightened sense of clarity. That doesn’t mean I have a thousand thoughts going through my head. It’s actually the opposite. There’s very little going on. The picture feels clear rather than fuzzy, my mind drifts less through the movement and I stay much more present with the shot. I think under stress it’s easy for that clarity to disappear and for the mind to drift. That’s often when the movement doesn’t play out quite like a normal shot. For me, returning to something familiar helps bring that clarity back. If I stay present and perform the moment as I’ve practised it, the result will look after itself. Everyone is different though, and part of it is exploring what works for you. Hopefully this gives you a few ideas and some open questions to explore. There’s lots we can borrow from other sports, try for ourselves and then keep what actually helps. I’ve written a little more around these ideas here if it helps: Trust the Shot Under Pressure https://www.petanquejournal.com/en/journal/petanque-confidence-trust-the-shot-under-pressure/

I didn’t play last weekend, but I did the weekend before in Luxembourg and we won the competition, which was nice. I always try to make a conscious effort to bring something into competition that I’ve been working on or want to improve. This time, it was about managing my body and fitness levels. The biggest factor in my own performance is fatigue, whether that comes from poor sleep, a late night or occasionally poor choices. On the Sunday, I decided to rest as much as possible between games. I sat down, took the weight off my feet, only practised briefly when I felt my body getting a little tight, stayed in the shade, wore a hat, and even took a couple of very short naps. Mostly, I just stayed relaxed and enjoyed plenty of funny conversations with friends. I was really happy with my level of performance. I followed the targets I’d set at the start of the day and played some of my best boule from start to finish. I’ll definitely be applying this more often in the major comps I enter, going forward. When I'm fresh, I make better choices, and throw the boule more often how I've been training and how I intend to before the shot is played.

Jimmy, super proud reading this mate. :-) This is exactly what we’ve been working towards. Not trying to suddenly go from 40% to 100%, but learning what helps you stay calm, learning to trust yourself and keep coming back to the process. And when things aren’t quite so, that’s what the pre-shot routine is about. A familiar place you can always return to, with confidence, to start afresh from. I love your “relax, reload and shoot again” line. Take what you need from the last boule, let it go and give the next one your full attention. When you realise you have the ability, through thought, choice and intention, to start bringing these ideas into competitive play, that’s a huge breakthrough. Once you feel that happening, it becomes much easier to start bringing other things you’ve worked on into that same competitive environment too. The question then becomes "Does or Did it appear" as the challenges get tougher or additional constraints are added. That’s the bit I’m most pleased about here. You’re starting to experience the work for yourself in competition now, and that’s when it really starts to become yours. There will still be tougher days, but you now know you have something you can return to. Really proud of you mate. Excidted to see where your journey leads you next & here's an article I published on my website to support the Week 5 work we were covering off yesterday, working through "Trust" https://www.petanquejournal.com/en/journal/petanque-confidence-trust-the-shot-under-pressure/

I know I mentioned it last night on your Monday night Zoom call but the recent video content has been really good mate. Keep up the good work!