Choking: What is it? What Is Happening That Causes an Athlete/Team To Under-Perform When the Pressur
Take a look below at some significant moments in sport where teams and individuals have encountered a unexpected and significant lapse in performance:
Team New Zealand-Americas Cup Yachting, 2013- From being 8-1 up in
victories over America's Team Oracle, they could not grab the one extra victory required and lost eight in a row to disastrously falter 9-8.
AC Milan-2005 Champions League Football Final, 2005- Leading 3-0 at half time with 45 minutes to play, Milan proceeded to collapse following 3 goals by Liverpool, and ultimately lost in a penalty shoot out.
Jean Van de Velde-British Open Golf, 1999- The Frenchman held a three-stroke lead going into the final hole dropped shots for the hole, placed him in a play-off, which he went on to lose.
Greg Norman-US Masters Golf, 1996 (Photo Right)- Greg took a six-stroke lead into the final round at Augusta, yet he eventually lost by five strokes to England's Nick Faldo.
What we are describing is the psychological concept of Choking, where individuals or groups of individuals have encountered an unexpected lapse in performance due to a failure to process, deal with and react to the pressures exerted on them.
The list of chokes by elite athletes and teams is endless, and is recognised by performances that are significantly inferior to what has been achieved in the past. For some it could be a one-time thing, yet for others it can become predictable, occurring at certain places or events. For athletes in the latter category the label becomes more scathing. They are no longer labelled someone that choked, they are earmarked as an habitual 'Choker'.
It is easy to dismiss these incidents to nerves or being outperformed and many elite athletes go as far to avoid the word choke by saying things like "I lost my rhythm" or "We just didn't gel as a group". It is easy to dismiss a performance in this way, yet when a sportsperson has performed to a high standard over a long period of time then uncharacteristically falters on the highest stage, something greater than 'nerves' are at play.
So what are some of the thought patterns that are impacting an athlete as a choke occurs?
Predominantly, an athlete will over-think the situation during a choke. They become more concerned about protecting what they have and worrying about failing from a position of strength, rather than playing in a style that got them into the position in the first place. Individuals feel the need to meticulously address the mechanics of the performance when choking. What was once a fluid, natural and goal focused performance suddenly becomes over analytical, resulting in part of the processing power required to attend to the task(s) being depleted.
In reality choking affects most of us at one time or another, be it a job interview, a date, exam or situations when on public display. When the focus is on us there can be a tendency to think about the worst thing that might happen in that situation. Ironically when one thinks about the things that can go wrong, they often do go wrong. This is term as a self fulfilling prophecy that is predominantly induced by negative self talk.
Photo: Dean Barker- Team N.Z. Americas Cup Skipper, 2013
What can be done to decrease choking within your performance?
There are a number of skills that can be introduced to change your mindset and/or behaviour to help combat the slump in form that happens when a choke is occurring. For example, it is important to focus on what you want to achieve (Approach Goals), rather than what you don't want to happen (Avoidance Goals) and having well rehearsed pre-performance and performance routines. The ability to visualise yourself performing a skill and distracting yourself from things that are not relevant to the performance will also protect against choking.
Sometimes it is helpful to admit that you choked during a situation and analyse what could be done better when a similar situation arises again. Take comfort that many individuals and teams have choked then succeeded next time in a similar situation, as they have understood what skills are required to deal with the pressure. A prominent example is the Australian golfer Adam Scott. Dropping four shots in the final 4 holes of the 2012 British Open to lose by one stroke, he took inspiration from that loss to win the 2013 U.S. Masters.
Photo Right: Jean Van de Velde- British Open 1999
If you feel that you that are not getting the best out of your sport, career or life situation because you are constantly failing during critical moments, give me a call or drop me an email. I can review your lifestyle, examine your thought processes and behaviours and introduce skills and actions that will assist you to succeed and to overcome that dreaded 'Choker' tag.