The Psychology of Choking and How to Prevent it

Introduction

In the opening round of the 1996 Masters, Greg Norman shot a course record of 63. Going into the final day, he led by six shots. What followed is considered to be one of the biggest ‘chokes’ in sporting history. Over the final 18 holes, Norman took an extra 15 shots – blowing the biggest lead in Masters history. He double bogeyed off the water, shot over par on five holes, and sent one tee shot straight into the water (1,2). The New York Times said that “rarely has a world-class athlete so thoroughly and publicly embarrassed themselves” (3).

In the 1993 Wimbledon finals, Jana Novotna led four games to one and 40-30. She only needed a couple more points to win the title. Instead, she cracked, double faulted and never recovered. What followed is considered to be the biggest disintegration in Wimbledon history. Novotna began to make rookie mistakes and her opponent capitalised. In the space of ten minutes, her opponent would win the next four games and the title. The sight of Novotna crying on the Dutches’ shoulder is still heart-breaking to watch (1,2).

Imagine taking a six shot lead into the final round of a masters and losing by five. Imagine leading four games to one in the Wimbledon finals and losing in the space of ten minutes (4). These tales of history tell an unforgiving story about decisive moments in sport and paint an unfortunate picture about the nature of ‘choking’.

What is Choking?

Generally speaking, choking refers to a decrease in performance compared to self-expected standards and results from increased anxiety under perceived pressure (5). In sport, it is commonly linked to motor skill failure in moments when it matters most – such as shanking a long drive or missing decisive penalty (6). There are three fundamental aspects to the choking definition (5):

• Skill

• Motivation

• Anxiety

A performance can only be labelled as a choke if it is obvious that the performer had both the skill and intention to perform better (6). A missed penalty by an unskilled novice cannot be considered a ‘choke’, whereas a missed penalty by a professional footballer can be (6).

Choking represents a shift in attention from relevant to irrelevant information (6). When you choke, your focus tends to shift to aspects of your environment or your performance that are not important (6). A prime example of this is distractions. When you choke, you become more susceptible to distractions and often miss important task-relevant cues. Whether its worries about the score in a close game, disruptive fans, or just general crowd noise, distractions often exceed the threshold for attention capacity which limits the attentional space for high level performance to occur (7). Another example is self-focus. When you choke, you become more susceptible to inadvertently allocating conscious attention to movement execution (6). Focusing on the step-by-step execution of already well-leaned behaviours often interferes with their automaticity (6). It is the combination of monitoring and controlling performance that ultimately leads to choking (8).

How to Prevent Choking

To prevent instances of choking, it is important to promote and maintain a task-relevant focus during performance (9). This includes preventing distractions and minimising self-focus. Some of the most effective tools in this regard are pre-performance routines, left-hand contractions, and acclimatisation (6).

Pre-Performance Routines

A good pre-performance routine can be a useful tool to help prevent choking (10). Defined as a sequence of task-relevant thoughts and behaviours, one of the main aims of a pre-performance routine is to improve attention and enhance concentration (10,11). This involves directing attention to task-specific cues and minimising distractions. As per the definition, there are a variety of different thoughts and behaviours that are effective components of a good pre-performance routine. Typical thoughts include (12):

• Goal Setting

• Imagery

• Relaxation

• Self-talk

Typical behaviours include (12):

• Guided breathing

• Warm-up routines

• Rehearsal

Left Hand Contractions

Left-hand contractions are another useful tool to help prevent choking (13). Sometimes referred to as Hemisphere-Specific Priming, this technique is often used to minimise self-focus in pressure situations (13). Left-hand contractions prime the visuospatial processes of the right hemisphere of the brain necessary for motor performance and suppress the analytical processes of the left hemisphere which is linked to the step-by-step control of skill execution (13). It has been shown that simply squeezing your left hand for 30 seconds prior to performance can help maintain stable performance under pressure (13).

Acclimatisation

As important as it is to prevent distractions and minimise self-focus, it is equally important to reduce the feelings of pressure that lead to such dysfunctional attention (6). The goal of acclimatisation is to familiarise yourself with feelings of pressure – to affect the experience of pressure rather than its effects. The cognitive anxiety experienced in pressure situations originates from your sensitivity to situational cues that threaten your identity (14). Exposing yourself to potentially threatening cues can help to decrease your sensitivity and prevent the subsequent attentional shifts. Practicing under mild anxiety conditions can help you become more resistant to the harmful effects of pressure (6).

There are many ways to manipulate pressure in training, including:

• Rewards

• Punishments

• Simulated Competition

• Videotaping

Due to the different ways in which different pressures effect performance – such as distraction or self-focus – the most effective method of pressure manipulation is often a combination (6).

Conclusion

It is essential for the success of choking interventions that both the benefits and limitations are understood. Whilst applying more functional methods of attentional control can help in minor instances of choking, they represent merely a ‘band-aid’ fix for more chronic choking experiences (6). From and applied perspective, therefore, it is recommended that anxiety-based interventions be proposed primarily to contest dysfunctional anxiety-based fears that may ruminate and be partially supplemented by some of the other attention-based interventions mentioned (6).

References

1. Henderson J, Owen O. The 10 Greatest Chokes in the History of Sport. The Guardian. 2002.

2. Weyer M. The 15 Biggest Choke Jobs in Sports History. The Richest. 2016.

3. Greg Norman’s Terrible Sunday. The New York Times. 1996.

4. Booker B. Don’t Look Now: The 20 Biggest Chokes in Sports History. Boss Hunting. 2022.

5. Mesagno C, Hill D. Definition of Choking in Sport: Re-Conceptualisation and Debate. Int J Sport Psychol. 2013;44(4):267–77.

6. Gröpel P, Mesagno C. Choking Interventions in Sports: A Systematic Review. Int Rev Sport Exerc Psychol. 2019 Jul;12(1):176–201.

7. Mullen R, Hardy L. State Anxiety and Motor Performance: Testing the Conscious Processing Hypothesis. J Sports Sci. 2000 Jul;18(10):785–99.

8. Jackson R, Ashford K, Norsworthy G. Attentional Focus, Dispositional Reinvestment, and Skilled Motor Performance Under Pressure. J Sport Exerc Psychol. 2006 Jul;28(1):49–68.

9. Mesagno C, Mullane-Grant T. A Comparison of Different Pre-Performance Routines as Possible Choking Interventions. J Appl Sport Psychol. 2010 Jul;22(3):343–60.

10. Rupprecht A, Tran U, Gröpel P. The Effectiveness of Pre-Performance Routines in Sports: A Meta-Analysis. Int Rev Sport Exerc Psychol. 2021 Jul;1–26.

11. Moran P. The Psychology of Concentration in Sports Performers: A Cognitive Analysis. Taylor and Francis; 1996.

12. Pre-Performance Routines. Sports Resilience. 2017.

13. Beckmann J, Gröpel P, Ehrlenspiel F. Preventing Motor Skill Failure through Hemisphere-Specific Priming: Cases from Choking Under Pressure. J Exp Psychol Gen. 2013;142(3):679–91.

14. Mesagno C, Harvey J, Janelle C. Self-Presentation Origins of Choking: Evidence from Separate Pressure Manipulations. J Sport Exerc Psychol. 2011 Jul;33(3):441–59.