@DeOneChester Well the zone is real too, just Japanese manga artist don't seem to actually understand what the zone actually is. I guess the best way to describe the difference is... If the 'flow' can be compared to the phrase "Time flies when you're having fun" the zone is kinda the opposite. Like every thing comes natural to you, but you also don't miss anything, and even though you're acting before you know it, anything your brain latches on to feels like it's in slow-mo. It's like being in a state of heightened awareness while at the same time being in a state where you no longer need to think.
I think the science behind it is something along the lines of your knowledge base of the situation, and your trained habits all kinda meshing together and you start operating purely with the subconscious, so your higher consciousness can focus on things like observation and working out what's going on. However, from experience I would not call the zone 'fun' like a lot of manga try to make it out to be. It's 'nothing' while it's happening, hype when you realize you just juked everyone out their socks, and then exhausting once you fall out of it and realize your body was going 120% for a good clip there and you're not a marathon runner.
Edit: I say Japanese mangaka, but honestly, most people writing about sports or sports art don't really get it in any country. Being 'on fire' or having a 'hot hand' or 'momentum' is confused with 'the zone' and lots of other things too. It's become 'mystical' to so many because it's been distilled into a vague 'peak condition' state by people trying to bolster their reputation by being able to 'teach' people how to enter the zone, or train them to turn it on and off.