choking under pressure Flashcards
What is pressure?
Any factor or combination of factors that increases the importance of performing well on a particular occasion
Examples of what causes pressure?
Self, others, manager/coach, interpersonal, environment, organisational, expectations
What is choking?
When an athlete exhibits an acute, significant performance decrement in a competitive pressure situation, which is attributed to an increase in anxiety when acknowledged by the athlete that self expected standards would otherwise be achieved.
Criteria of choking?
- athlete is motivated to achieve their goal
- are capable of performing better
- regards the situation as important
- choke is not a random fluctuation in skill level
- significant deterioration in performance under pressure.
Nature of choking?
- During the choke the athlete can still make rational decisions
- select the correct plan or strategy but unable to execute it
Mechanisms - attentional theory
- Distractions – pressure increases anxiety which occupies working memory and creates a dual task condition
- Anxiety related thoughts compete with task related thoughts
- Inefficient processing occurs unless the athletes increases effort
- Once cognitive demands exceed effort alone choking occurs
What is explicit monitoring hypothesis?
performance becomes disrupted by the athlete attempting to monitor the step by step execution of the skill
Mechanisms - self-focus theory
-Anxiety increases athletes’ level of self-consciousness causing the athlete to focus attention inwardly
-Athlete now monitors and attempts to control their skill execution
-Skill execution should operate outside working memory – declarative v procedural knowledge structures
-Pressure causes the athlete to reinvest their well learned skill process in an effortful manner
What is the conscious processing hypothesis?
Performance deteriorates due to the athlete consciously controlling the skill
What is the self presentation model?
-Certain personality factors predispose athletes to choking susceptibility as they have a greater propensity toward cognitive state anxiety
-Sport competition presents a situation where they need to manage their identity
-Competition creates worries about making a good impression
Potential moderators of choking?
Self-consciousness, dispositional reinvestment, trait anxiety and self confidence, skill level and task properties, presence of an audience, coping styles
What is the intervention implicit learning?
Learn the skill without the intention to process the rule based knowledge of the skill
What is the intervention analogy?
Biomechanical metaphors to replicate complex actions (e.g. hitting a tennis back hand as if throwing a frisbee)
What is the intervention process cues?
Elite golfers completed a putting task during a pressurised situation while focusing on:
- explicit technical rules
- irrelevant thought (e.g. three colours)
- process related swing thought (smooth, slow)
What is the intervention pre-performance routine?
- identify athletes who are vulnerable to choking (e.g. self consciousness scores
- PPR is a sequence of task relevant thoughts and actions that athletes activate in a systematic way prior to performance
