Sports psychologists have added to Csíkszentmihályi’s theory that when one is "in the zone," as Martell truly was against the Jazz last month, the integration of the conscious and subconscious reflex functions in the brain clearly improves coordination. Many athletes, they say, describe the effortless nature of their performance while achieving personal bests as something they really don't seem to control.

"When you're in a zone like that, it kind of feels like every time you touch the ball, it's going in. That's what it felt like tonight," Webster said.

Webster's unexplained sense that all his touches were going to be successful is no different than the experience the legendary soccer player Pele described to a sportswriter about being in the zone:

"I felt a strange calmness.. . a kind of euphoria, Pele said, "I felt I could run all day without tiring, that I could dribble through any of their team or all of them, that I could almost pass through them physically."

The most common barrier to "being in the zone" -- whether in sports, public speaking, sexual performance, or whatever -- is internal dialogue and coincident attempt to consciously control the performance of the various actions involved in the sport, speaking or other physical activity.

On the other hand, when the internal dialogue is negative and predictive of failure, the negativity and gloom also interferes with performance and this problem is called "performance anxiety."

For example, if Webster had entered the Utah game with the mind-set that he wasn't going to be successful with his shot, or worried about a recent shooting slump, he probably would have missed most of those third-quarter shots.

One school of thought says that being "in the zone is similar to losing consciousness while still being awake and active, much like a person behaves when hypnotized. Indeed, as Pele and Webster examples have suggested, the individual finds himself or herself observing his or her body executing the movements; that is, they were feeling every move or action flow from within somehow.

Hypnosis can be very effective in assisting the consciousness of the cerebrum to get itself out of the way, so the cerebellum can handle things.

Former Trail Blazer and ex-University of Oregon star Jim Barnett had such an experience in 1970 when playing with the San Diego Rockets.

Barnett was in the midst of a horrific shooting slump, having scored just 19 points in his past three games. So he decided to visit a psychiatrist Feb. 17, 1970 for a hypnosis session in an attempt to shake the slump.

Once under the hypnotic influence, Barnett was told by the psychologist that he would score 40 points in the next game. Known for his "in the zone" shooting sprees in the past, it didn't surprise Barnett a bit when he went out the next night and scored 42 points against the Seattle Sonics, connecting on 18 field goals in 23 attempts.

"I know it sounds implausible, but it really happened," says Barnett, now a television analyst for the Golden State Warriors.

For Barnett, nick-named "Crazy Horse" for his flaky approach to life, it was no big deal -- just an unexplained phenomenon rooted in the brain of the achiever.

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