Privette, G. (1981). The phenomenology of peak performance in sports. International Journal of Sport Psychology, 12, 51-60.

Phenomenology largely relies on persons' opinions of experiences to describe causes of events. This approach is very questionable because it relies on recall, the subjective interpretation of events, possible bias due to interviewer effects, and does not provide an objective assessment of accuracy or reliability. With this caveat in mind, the following factors in peak performance were described:

• Prior interest -- attitude toward performance, goals, positive expectations.
• Involvement -- individual contribution, complexity of preparation.
• Clear focus -- preparation and understanding of strategies, singular purpose.
• Intentionality -- probability of goal achievement, determination, will to succeed.
• Spontaneity -- flow, happened naturally, lack of disruptions.
• Peak experience -- boundless energy, control and lack of fatigue, absence of worries.

Implication. These factors need to be researched and objectively verified as components of exceptional performances. It is easy to accept them at face value, but the possibility exists that for every athlete only a unique subset of these descriptive elements is required to perform well. On the other hand, even more factors may have to be included but they have not been discussed in this pre-scientific report.

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