Jim, I will have to think about the management of time in contrast with the management of energy. I think it may prove to be a useful distinction.

I don't have and never came close to the athletic ability of a Ted Williams but I can see where someone of his ability might be able to see the stitching on a baseball. I don't play tennis these days but played a great 10 years ago. I played in a league twice a week, had a tennis lesson with a pro once a week and once attended tennis camp in Texas for a whole week where my game got very sharp. I also frequently drilled with a ball machine, similar to a baseball pitching machine, hitting scores of forehands followed by scores of backhands. Once, just hitting back and forth with a friend, not in an actual game, I began to watch the ball closely. After half an hour or so, a gradual change took place where as I watched the ball bounce I could see the seams as the ball slowly rotated toward the racket. Every can of 3 balls are imprinted with a number to identify stray balls rolling onto another court. I could almost but not quite read the numbers. Now, this was all pretty weird but I had heard about being in the zone and this must be it.

I also noticed being hyper aware of just about everything going on around me. Once, my friend hit a nice forehand out wide I had to run for. As I ran to intercept his shot, I could clearly see the chain link fence beside the court and a car passing by on the adjacent road, and I could see my friend moving on his side of the court, all the while still seeing the tennis ball and the numbers the size of a grapefruit moving slowly and thinking I could trick my friend by hitting my shot in the opposite direction to the one in which he was moving. When we stopped our practice after several hours, my first thought was for the first time in my life I had been awake.

Today I don't play tennis (it's hard on the body) but I try to bring a high level of alertness to cycling. There is a hill near my home I always climb if riding from the house. As I bomb back down, I am deliberate about watching for loose dogs or someone backing out of a driveway into my path. In sports this is called situational awareness. In other circles it is called mindfulness. I think of it as paying attention to what may be going on around me. I drive my car much the same way so there are useful every day applications to this zone business.