Choking is an inability to perform up to a former standard. High anxiety is typically the major cause of choking and it leads directly to a decrease in performance. Each athlete's potential for choking depends on the athlete and the situation (Scott & Pelliccioni, 1982). Choking usually occurs when an athlete is overly concerned about what others (coach, teammates, or audience) might think about their performance. In addition, choking will occur when there is gap between the athlete's goal for the competition and the actual performance.

Examples of choking in sports.

1. In track, a highly ranked athlete is focused on winning. Due to the outcome focus, anxiety increases and the athlete is slow to react to the sound of the gun.
2. In tennis, an athlete misses an easy shot and immediately double faults on the serve. A player afraid of repeating earlier mistakes will only make more errors and performance will suffer.
3. In basketball, loud support from the home audience may increase an athletes' self-attention. The result can be performance errors (Schlenker, Phillips, Boniecki, & Schlenker, 1995).

How does choking hurt performance?

If anxiety increases beyond the optimal level necessary for the given task, a decline in performance will follow (Sonstroem & Bernardo, 1982). In addition, self-doubts regarding one's performance and a desire to impress others will create a high level of anxiety (Schlenker, Phillips, Boniecki, & Schlenker, 1995). Once choking occurs, the athletes' focus on the game is lost as is physical control of the performance.

Ways to prevent choking.

1. Perform for yourself rather than attempting to please others.
2. Set your own realistic goals that are attainable yet challenging.
3. Use imagery prior to competition to review strategy and technique.
4. Use positive self-talk prior to and during competition.
5. Practice deep muscle relaxation exercises or meditation prior to competition.
6. Use music prior to competition to help maintain focus by controlling negative thoughts.

Usually athletes will choke in situations when they try to impress others and/or have self-doubts related to their performance. Since each athlete has a different potential to choke and it depends on the athlete and the situation, it is not easy to prevent choking. Athletes are advised to experiment with several methods of controlling the choking response in order to discover the method/s that work best for them personally.

References:

Scott, M. D., & Pelliccioni, Jr. L. (1982). Don't choke. Prince-Hall, Inc. Englewood Cliffs, NJ.

Schlenker, B. R., Phillips, S. T., Boniecki, K. A., & Schlenker, D. R. (1995). Championship pressure: Choking or triumphing in one's own territory? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 68, 623-643.

Sonstroem, R. J., & Brenardo, P. (1982). Intraindividual pregame state anxiety and basket ball performance: A re-examination of the inverted-U curve. Journal of Sport Psychology, 4, 235-245.

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