Determine whether your zone requires activation or relaxation

Once your zone is mapped, identify whether you need to increase or decrease arousal before performance.

Why it works

The IZOF identifies not just the target state but the direction of intervention: if your best performances follow high-anxiety states, generic relaxation strategies will move you out of your zone, not into it. If your best performances follow low-anxiety states, activation strategies are counterproductive. The direction of intervention is determined by the zone, not by social norms about what "good preparation looks like." An athlete whose zone is at 7/10 anxiety needs activation to reach it, not calming.

How to do it

1. Compare your typical pre-competition anxiety to your IZOF: are you usually above, within, or below it?
2. If usually above your zone: use calming strategies before competition (slow breathing, progressive relaxation, imagery).
3. If usually below your zone: use activation strategies (stimulating music, physical warm-up, motivational cues).
4. If inconsistently positioned: identify what determines your starting anxiety level and address that variable.

Evidence

IZOF research shows that athletes who deliberately self-regulate toward their zone outperform athletes who use generic strategies. The direction of regulation is as important as the practice used, a finding specific to the IZOF model rather than general arousal management. (observational)

Identifying the reliable direction of intervention requires an accurately mapped zone; an inaccurate zone leads to systematically wrong regulatory direction.

Sources

• Hanin (2000), Individual zones of optimal functioning model, in Emotions in Sport

Common mistake

Using the same preparation strategy before every competition regardless of starting anxiety level — an athlete who sometimes arrives over-aroused and sometimes under-aroused needs different strategies on different days, not a universal protocol.