"You can never know if you will be succesful or not.  You can only prepare for battle, and it must be done with all of your heart and with all of your consciousness.  In that manner, you will have an edge." - Sun Tzu, The Art of War

An inner quest of the warrior is to touch excellence, to experience oneself at the highest level.  Likewise, athletes can have a similar mission, to achieve the objective, the task at hand, with the highest level of performance excellence.  According to Eastern traditions and Zen masters, one of the highest forms of experience is the state of "no-mind."  In sports, it is often referred to as the Zone.  Both refer to the seemingly elusive experience in which all things "click" and the person is free to respond at the highest level.  It is that state of effortless action that people report to be the best moments in their lives.  One of the most challenging aspects of this experience is that it cannot be willed into existance.  In fact, the entrance into the "no-mind" performance state is often a result of letting go of what has been trained.

- NASM Essentials of Sports Performance Training