For example, I can do this in the boxing ring. Been training for 10 or so years, never competed. Most obvious when sparring with a beginner. While they’re just trying to survive, I’m fighting on the level of tactics and strategy. The technique for punches and footwork is automatic, and in those split seconds between the opponents punches I can see where the openings are, how they’re flowing, which punches I need to throw so certain openings show up, where to step to drive the opponent towards the ropes, etc.
You really have time to think and analyze the situation during a 3 minute round. Feels almost like playing chess.
Adrenaline really is a fun drug. When I was super into downhill mountain biking in high school, flying down a single track inches away from trees at 50km/h, yet you have time to notice every tiny detail on the trail. Every loose pebble and tiny twist of the trail, texture on every tree root … feels like you notice and process orders of magnitude more information per second than you can at walking speeds.
Edited for typo.
Meanwhile, I'm absolutely useless at anything involving sports or a fast reaction time.
I'm reminded of the section of Peak (Anders Ericsson) where chess grandmasters were excellent at remembering board positions from real games and completely average at remembering impossible board positions.