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An article came across my desktop this week by AP Golf Writer Doug Ferguson. It seems that last Sunday, Bob Weekly missed out on his first PGA Tour title when he three-putted from 30 feet on the 18th hole, missing a 3-footer at the Honda Classic. (Admittedly, I don’t know much about golf but even I know that wasn’t good.) And so the question was asked “Did he choke?”

The world of sport is filled with examples of choking – nearly no athlete is immune. So what is choking? And what’s an athlete to do when he or she can’t “dislodge” a mistake or bad performance for his or her life?

According to the Dictionary of Sport and Exercise Sciences, choking is defined as the inability to perform up to a previously exhibited level of performance when in a pressure situation. In other words, I could do it before “in my sleep,” but when the pressure was on, it was a nightmare. If we couldn’t do it before and we fail to do it this time, it’s not choking – we’re just bad at it. But if it’s something we’ve done thousands of times (an easy putt, a smooth bike dismount in triathlon, a serve in tennis, etc.) and, because of pressure, we mess it up, then we’ve choked.

Sports Psychologists use three general theories to explain why choking happens. Distraction Theory maintains that we choke because in anxiety-producing situations we tend to focus our attention on things that are irrelevant to the task at hand, as opposed to things that are relevant. In other words, instead of focusing on putting, we focus on how close we are to winning.

Explicit Monitoring Theory, maintains that choking is an example of “paralysis by analysis.” We choke because we try to gain conscious control over skills that were previously automatic. One of the reasons we practice, practice and practice our skills is so we no longer have to thing about them. If we had to think through every movement each muscle of your body had to make in order to complete a serve in tennis, we would never let go of the ball. Thankfully, most of us do not have to think about how to run anymore. Imagine what the cycling leg of a triathlon would be like if you had to think about riding the same way you did when your bike had training wheels. When we think about things that should be automatic, we can become tense, indecisive, and stuck – none of which is good for athletic performances.

A final theory focuses on how much effort we put into our performance. Processing Efficiency Theory maintains that one of the reasons athletes choke is that they “try too hard.” In fact, trying too hard seems to be the hallmark of the choke experience. Something happens (real or imagined) to signal to me that my performance isn’t going to be what I think it should be, so I work at it harder. Of course, for most of us, working harder translates into more muscle tension, more physiological symptoms of anxiety, and more distracting thoughts. Just the opposite of what we need to do in high pressure situations.

What can we do to get out, or better yet, to stay out of the downward spiral of choking? First, the more we can practice under competition-like conditions the better we can learn to adapt to pressure. At last year’s Association for Applied Sport Psychology conference I heard two sports psychology consultants share how they always work with golfers on the green as opposed to the driving range. They considered the later artificial conditions, unlike anything an athlete was going to experience in a competitive situation. The idea is to learn to be comfortable with being uncomfortable.

Second, shift focus. Choking is a reaction to our thinking --mostly about us! When choking, focus on something external to yourself (a spot on a wall, something in the distance, etc.). Or focus on something you can control. Get the focus off of yourself.

Third, develop a routine. Having a set plan of behavior prior to executing a skill (e.g. specific actions that are always done just prior to a golf swing, doing the same routine between tennis serves, transitioning from the swim to the bike leg of a triathlon exactly the same way every race) will reduce tension. Reminding ourselves to go back to our routine when our attention drifts dangerously close to choke-territory will help us refocus on the task at hand.

One more thing to keep in mind. Feeling anxious is a natural part of a competitive situation. In fact, we need a reasonable amount of anxiety to perform our best. Sometimes it’s not the anxiety of competition that causes us to choke but anxiety about that anxiety that pushes us over the edge. As two-time US Open champion Curtis Strange says, “If you’re out there and you don’t feel pressure, you’re not into what you’re doing.”

Okay, your turn. Got any good choking stories (Since I’ve been asking this of the students in my Sport and Exercise Psychology courses, I’ve heard some great ones!)? Any ways that you’ve found to cope with choking? I can’t wait to hear from you.







Resources:

Anshel, M.F., Freedson, P., Hamill, J., Haywood, K., Horvat, M., & Plowman, S. (1991). Dictionary of the sport and exercise sciences. Published by Human Kinetics.


Doug Ferguson’s column “When Does a Miss in Golf Become a Choke?” can be found by clicking here.