KINGSTON, Ont. – Being “in the zone” is every athlete’s goal.
It’s a superior level of play where everything slows down, allowing the athlete to reach a higher echelon of performance.
Getting into that state of mind is much easier said than done, especially in a sport like curling where such a high importance is placed on mental focus. You don’t usually last very long in the zone – if you can find it at all. But if you can, success could just be around the corner.
“Generally, if you look at anybody that wins a Canadian championship or world championship, you’ve probably got to have one or two players that have been in the zone for a good part of it,” said Newfoundland and Labrador skip Brad Gushue. “You look at the Scotties. Kerri Einarson looked like she was in that zone for a lot of it. It’s what it takes. The competition is so good.”
So, what does it feel like? How does it differ from just playing well?
Wild Card skipper Mike McEwen says he was in the zone during the semi-final and final of the 2017 Roar of the Rings Olympics trials in Ottawa. McEwen defeated Gushue in the semis with then-second Matt Wozniak describing McEwen’s performance as the best he’s ever seen from the Winnipeg native.
McEwen shot 95 per cent in the gold-medal game, losing to Kevin Koe in a 7-6 heartbreaker. Still, the 39-year-old recalls how he felt different during those contests.
“Zero anxiety, but ultimate focus. I almost felt like I could see things outside of myself. It’s weird to say, but it’s like an out-of-body experience. I felt so calm and relaxed but very focused that it felt a little bit out-of-body, which is very odd for me,” said McEwen. “I’m not traditionally a player who’s had moments like that of being able to play at that high level without a lot of stressors going on, but it happened for me there.”
It wasn’t just a flick of switch to get to that point, says McEwen. It took a lot of work with sports psychologist Kyle Paquette, who is a business partners with Adam Kingsbury, coach for Saskatchewan’s Team Matt Dunstone.
“There were years of work with him [Paquette] and our team,” he said. “We all improved personally as individuals both off and on the ice. That was a three- or four-year journey that added up to being able to play in a moment like that.”
Team Canada skip Koe, who shot 100 per cent in a win over New Brunswick Sunday night, says getting in the zone doesn’t happen a lot, but when it does, it usually happens at events like the Brier.
“You put in all the work to get here and you’ve had a lot of practice and you’re on good conditions,” said Koe. “In the past we slowly built up our level of play as the week went on, and hopefully this week is no different.
“It’s just a confidence thing when you know you’re throwing it good. You got great conditions that are very predictable. It doesn’t happen all the time, but when it does it’s pretty special.”
Ben Hebert has played lead for both Koe and Kevin Martin – two of the most decorated curlers in history – winning four Brier titles, two world championships and an Olympic gold medal in the process. The 36-year-old knows first-hand what it means for players of that quality to be in the zone.
“It’s not a secret that it’s a skip’s game out there. When the skip is hot, it takes you to good places. There’s been times when both of them had the draw button weight in their back pocket and the laser beams on task and that’s when magic happens,” said Hebert. “I wish I knew [how they do it] and then maybe I could do that and be a skip.”
Gushue doesn’t know the exact science in finding the zone either, but says it’s a fun time when he has found it in the past. The two-time Canadian champ says he’s reached that level at the 2017 world championship in Edmonton, when his team went 13-0, and the 2018 Brier in Regina.
“Certainly, for me, everything really goes blank. Sometimes I don’t even focus on the shot. It just becomes automatic and you get into a routine,” explained Gushue. “You get into the hack and you throw it and everything looks like it’s on the line it needs to be. It’s a fun time.”
Ontario’s John Epping is skipping the hometown team this week in Kingston, Ont., and has been playing well. He’s shot at least 85 per cent in all three of their wins heading into Thursday night’s game against New Brunswick. The Toronto native says he feels like he might be closing in on that certain coveted state.
“It’s like when you’re putting on the green and all of sudden the golf hole gets so much bigger,” said Epping. “Out there it can feel very big, but other times it can feel really small. Right now it feels really great. I think, maybe, a bit of a zone is happening. I’m not sure. Everything feels really good personally right now and we’ll just keep building on that.”
McEwen and his Wild Card rink are also playing well with an undefeated record so far, but he says it’s too early to know if they’ll be “in the zone” for the playoffs this weekend.
“That seems so far away. Ask me that later. It feels like we’ve here for a week, but we’re only day three here,” he said.
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