Arghana's phone vibrated on the table.
He had just finished dinner, still enjoying the calm after a rather intense training session.
He reached for his phone and saw the sender's name: Doctor from NOC*NSF.
"Arghana, could you come tomorrow morning? There are a few things we'd like to discuss about your hyper focus.
We can talk about potential methods for managing it."
He read the message twice, making sure nothing was missed. Tomorrow morning?
That meant he would need to leave early.
The trip to the NOC*NSF headquarters would take about one and a half hours by train.
Not too far, but enough to change his plans for the day.
Arghana stared at the phone screen for a moment before replying.
"Okay, Doc. What time should I be there?"
It didn't take long for the reply to come.
"10 AM. I'll prepare some materials for us to discuss. This will be more of a discussion than an examination, so no need to worry too much. See you tomorrow."
Arghana let out a soft sigh. This was going to be an important meeting.
So far, he had only been guessing about his condition based on personal analysis, but this time, he would get a perspective from an expert.
Perhaps he would finally find a clearer answer about what was happening with him on the field.
He put his phone back on the table, then stared at the ceiling of his room. Slowly, he began to plan for the next day.
Training would still be a priority, but now, there was one more thing he needed to prepare for—understanding the true limits and potential of his own body.
===
The train moved steadily along the tracks toward Papendal, the largest sports training center in the Netherlands.
Arghana sat by the window, watching as the landscape slowly shifted from rows of buildings to a wider expanse of green.
Though his body still felt a bit stiff after yesterday's training, his mind was busier thinking about his meeting with the NSF doctor today.
He had already tried to look up some references on the flow state phenomenon, reading articles from sports journals to interviews with athletes who had experienced similar conditions.
Some mentioned that the flow state is a condition where the brain enters an extreme level of engagement, as if the outside world disappears.
But what was more interesting was how this effect could drain physical energy drastically.
Some athletes experience prolonged mental fatigue, while others may experience a "crash" once the moment ends.
When the train stopped at Arnhem, Arghana got off and immediately looked for a taxi to the NOC*NSF facility.
This place wasn't just an ordinary medical complex—it was a sports research center that handled athletes from various sports, ranging from football to individual sports like swimming and athletics.
Once inside the consultation room, Arghana was greeted by the doctor he had met before. This time, the man wasn't alone.
Next to him sat a sports neurology specialist, a middle-aged woman with sharp eyes who immediately started studying him the moment he sat down.
"Glad you could come, Arghana," said the lead doctor. "We've discussed your condition and would like to run a few tests and offer some training options that could help you manage this hyperfocus."
The neurology specialist leaned back in her chair.
"We've noticed an interesting pattern in your match data," she said.
"Your performance spikes at certain minutes, but your physical and mental consumption also increases drastically.
One of our hypotheses is that your nervous system undergoes overstimulation during hyperfocus."
Arghana nodded slightly, already suspecting that. "So, how do we handle it?"
"There are several approaches we can try," the doctor continued.
"One of them is transition control training.
Some athletes use breathing techniques to gradually lower brain stimulation levels after entering hyperfocus.
Others use visualization exercises before matches to condition the brain so it doesn't burn out afterward."
The lead doctor added, "There's also the method of physical and neurological reinforcement.
High-intensity interval training (HIIT) combined with cognitive load—such as doing sprints followed by rapid decision-making exercises—could train your body to adapt to extreme pressure without quickly reaching its limits."
Arghana listened carefully, mentally noting important points.
"But before that," said the neurology specialist, "we'd like to run a few neurocognitive and biometric tests to better understand how your body and brain respond to this condition.
If you're willing, we could start this afternoon."
Arghana exhaled slowly. A part of him was curious about what they might discover.
"Okay," he said finally. "Let's begin."
The neurocognitive and biometric tests took nearly two hours.
Arghana underwent a series of tests measuring his brain's response to visual and auditory stimuli, neural activity scans using EEG, and heart rate variability measurements to understand how his body adapted to cognitive and physical stress.
Afterward, he sat back in the consultation room with the doctor and the neurology specialist.
The screen in front of them displayed various graphs and data from the test results.
"We found a few interesting things," said the neurology specialist.
"First, when you experience a 'focus' boost, there's increased activity in the prefrontal cortex and areas related to spatial perception and rapid decision-making.
This explains why your reactions and game instincts become so sharp.
However, what's more interesting is that when hyperfocus ends, there's a drastic decrease in your neural activity, almost like extreme mental fatigue."
The lead doctor added, "In some cases, such conditions can be linked to emotional regulation patterns and stress formed since childhood.
We can't conclude for certain, but it's possible that your hyperfocus is also triggered by survival mechanisms developed from certain experiences in the past."
Arghana furrowed his brows. "What do you mean?"
"Some athletes who experience hyperfocus have a history of high emotional stress during childhood.
This could be due to unrealistic expectations, experiences of loss, or even situations where they felt they had to always stay alert to survive.
The brain learns to enter hyperfocus mode as a way to cope with situations that demand extreme attention," explained the neurology specialist.
Arghana fell silent, trying to connect this with his childhood.
He did grow up with high expectations from his family regarding football.
There were also moments where he felt he had to constantly prove himself, especially when he was still at the academy, where competition was fierce.
"But that's just one possibility," the lead doctor continued.
"It could also simply be that your nervous system is very responsive to certain pressure patterns.
We're just pointing out that psychological factors could also play a role in how your body and brain respond in the field."
The neurology specialist displayed another graph on the screen. "Regarding treatment, there are several approaches we could try.
One of them is nerve adaptation training, which combines cognitive load with physical load in a controlled manner.
This aims to train your body to avoid drastic performance drops after hyperfocus."
"What does the training look like?" asked Arghana.
"Combining high-intensity interval training (HIIT) with cognitive tasks, such as making quick decisions under fatigue.
For example, repeated sprints with changing visual instructions, passing drills with unpredictable patterns, or shooting drills where you need to read an opponent's movement in seconds before executing."
"Additionally, there are also stimulation regulation techniques, such as breathing exercises, mindfulness, and biofeedback to help control the transition from hyperfocus to normal conditions.
This is important to prevent excessive mental fatigue after a match."
Arghana nodded, processing all this information.
This wasn't just about physical or game strategy—it was about understanding how his brain itself worked under pressure.
He began to realize that hyperfocus wasn't just a gift, but also a double-edged sword that had to be managed wisely.
"We can start a few training sessions in the next few weeks, if you're interested," said the neurology specialist.
Arghana gave a slight smile.
"Of course. I want to understand this more deeply.
If this is part of who I am as a player, I need to know how to use it properly."