Being in the zone has been described as experiencing a positive state of consciousness, the state achieved by athletes to a peak experience in which total engrossment, effortlessness and transcendence of self can be achieved independent of performance (Prebish, 1993). Research has also demonstrated that some athletes associate being in the zone along with a higher power. However, few studies have examined spirituality and being in the Zone among African American student athletes. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine spirituality and being in the zone among African American college student athletes.
Method:
A convenient sample of student-athletes from classes in the Department of Health and Human Performance at a small southeastern private historically black college and university was utilized in the study. Data was collected using a Modified version of the Zone Test and the Spiritualty in Sports Test. The responses on the questionnaire ranged from 1 to 4 on a Likert scale with 1 being strongly disagree to 5 being strongly agree.
Analysis/Results:
Independent t-test and ANOVA were utilized to determine the differences between the demographic categories and the Zone and SIST questions, alpha = .05. Students reported means above 3.0 to the following Zone questions: “I look to spirituality or religiosity for guidance of character during a game”, “I look to spirituality or religiosity to keep me healthy during games”, “I look to spirituality or religiosity to pull my team together”, and “I use spirituality or religiosity to help me with the emotional roller coaster of winning and losing..” Students reported means above 3.0 to the following SIST questions: “I have had the feeling of being able to move around, between or through my opponents.”, “I have experienced moments in sports where I feel I can do no wrong.”, “I have experienced a feeling of self-mastery and power when taking risks in sports.”, and “I have had the feeling during sports that I am on automatic pilot.” There was a significant difference between classification and gender and the Zone state questions. There was also a significant difference between classification and the SIST questions.
Conclusions:
Results from this study add to the literature new information about the relationship between spirituality and being in the Zone among African American student athletes. Recommendations are made to further investigate the relationship of spirituality and being in the zone among African American student athletes at historically black colleges and universities.