What is an average level of play?
The average level of play is a level on which the Athlete can rely. Whatever the feel or the form of the day, the Athlete knows that he has a quality of play that will always be at least equal to this average play. From then on, he will always have a guarantee of confidence that he will allow him to perform well in a competition.
For example, when the Athlete is in a qualifying phase, he does not necessarily need to be at his best and come first as this is only a qualifying phase. His average level will be sufficient to qualify.
Why is it important to have a high average level of play?
Before every competition and in every match, the Athlete has a new opportunity to play at his best level and obtain his best result. However, depending on his preparation, he will not have the means to be able to play at the maximum level of play, because one or more of the 4 dimensions of the Athlete (https://www.raphaeltorti.com/post/the-4-dimensions-of-the-athlete) will not be at the top. Either he will not have had time to improve everywhere, or his form means that he will have weaknesses on the day of the competition.
However, between the player's desire to want to play “perfectly” and his actual level of the day, there is a gap. If the Athlete thinks that he will play perfectly right away and that is not the case, then frustrations arise and grow and prevent the Athlete from having his real level of play. Worse, he will tend to play more and more badly and to achieve nothing of what he undertakes because it will be in the imagination to play perfectly and not concentrated on what he can really do (orange arrow).
His level of play for the day will drop.
Entering competition starting from his average level will allow the Athlete to raise his level towards "The Zone" during his competition (green arrow). Thus, he will not be affected by the desire to play perfectly, he will remain focused on his game and the desire to make a result. With a known average level of play, the Athlete knows he can "play badly".
That is to say, there are situations, whatever they may be (strategic, technical, mental or physical) that he will be able to cope with.
For example, take two soccer teams. On paper, Team A is definitely better than Team B. Against all odds, Team B outrageously dominates Team A. However, despite this, Team A scores against the court of play. The score is therefore 1 to 0 for team A. If the strength of team A is never to concede a goal, whatever their form of the day, the players know that they have practically won the match, they have confidence in their game, and they can calmly finish the match. So certainly Team A was much superior and they should have won by a bigger gap. On the other hand, she will cover the essentials by winning the match. She will have well played bad.
Reaching the zone is possible very occasionally, some top athletes even claim to have never reached it. Raising your average level of play will allow you to be more regular and have high results even if the level of play achieved is not maximum.