Why We "Choke" Under Pressure, According To Neuroscience

[mchepp]

Hmm, I am pretty sure I like to avoid. At times in a softball league I was in I would often hope that I was not the batter who would come to the plate with a chance to win the game, either hoping we would win before or lose before it came to me. I did not want to be the final batter.

I will say, as I have aged I have found that I am starting to like the spotlight a bit more. Still not as much as others, but more then when I was a kid.

[misty_mountainhop]

Interestingish thread. There's more to this though than a personality type isn't there? There's interesting evidence that, particularly for sport, there's a large element to do with thinking about something instead of simply trusting to all that training and just doing it.

Adepts don't consciously think about an action as it's ingrained - they just do it. Once someone starts consciously thinking about, say, their golf swing (explicit monitoring) when the pressure's on, they're seriously in danger of messing up.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/13185266

http://www.thesportinmind.com/articles/ping-pong-panic-explicit-monitoring-theory-emt-and-table-tennis/

It's also possible that distraction is an issue as well:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21574739

The weirdest example of this sort of thing I can recall, was playing in an indoor cricket league. It was a mixed league and played for fun, mostly. Some of the matches were pretty competitive and there was a divisional KO tournament. The rules stated that men could only bowl underarm to the women. Batsmen rotated in pairs which are always mixed.

I was a very good cricketer by this standard and a decent bowler. We were playing in the semis of the KO tournament and we'd batted first. The opposition were always in with a shout but I had to bowl the last over with the scores meaning the odds were in our favour, basically keep their last pair of batsmen quiet and we'd have been in the final. The rules also stated that if you bowl a wide ball, the batting side get a run and you have to bowl the delivery again. Batsmen play out 4 overs and are then rotated for another pair; if one is 'out', they simply have 5 runs deducted and carry on. 8-ball overs.

Despite the level and so-say 'relaxed' element of the tournament, I was a bit nervy starting that over. Nothing unusual though. When bowling to start at the guy, it was easy - quick and made it move around. The woman, on the other hand, was a nightmare. The first underarm I bowled her way was slightly wide. Opps. Start to think about it and get a bit more nervy. Wide again. More nerves, more focus on the action I'm making to bowl underarm. Just about get it straight - man on strike. Easy - fast, swinging etc. And so on....

The more I thought about what was going wrong with the underarm deliveries and tried to concentrate on doing it correct next time, the worse it got - more nervous, even wider deliveries. How easy could it be and yet, at that moment, I pretty much couldn't hit a barn door from 6 feet underarm. Really odd. I swear I could feel my wrist at the moment of releasing the ball doing all sorts of evil things to make it go anywhere but where it was meant to. The overarm deliveries to the guy I didn't think about and just let rip - no problem. I was trying to get him out rather than avoid bowling a wide.

Anyway, we won - somehow. For me, anytime I'm trying to avoid something in sport, rather than trying to achieve something specific, that's when the problems start. For example, if I were to try to avoid 3-putting instead of (sensibly) holing the putt straight out etc.

[Patch]

I can't remember ever being nervous when playing any sport. That said I am pretty sure I have had some pre-game butter flies, but once the contest started they disappeared, and some form of relaxation took over. In my early years, I might have been a little nervous during an important business meeting. Once had a few of those meetings under my belt, I was never nervous again.  I was/am definitely nervous during most medical issues that my family have incurred. Just never at sports. I always wanted to be "The Guy" that took the last play, and did the best I could with it. If I failed, then I failed. If I helped to  win the contest, then we put a  "W" in the win column. If I, or we lost a contest, finding, and taking something positive from the loss was always a good thing.

In golf I always want to be the first one to tee off for a round. There were times I screwed up on the first tee, but I usually made up for it, and sometimes even won my foursome by the end of the 18th green. Like most golfers, I hit a few bad shots during most rounds,  but I don't blame choking on those bad shots. I just look at it as having hit a bad shot. I did something wrong with either my stance, my grip, or up/down swing. The only "sports" emotion I can ever remember showing were some tears shed after a hard fought battle resulted in a win. That was more of a release of pressure I like to assume.

I do know what real fear is, and how it's handled (smart or dumb) can determine a certain outcome. In some instances, fear can have a life, or death result. Sports do not contain life, or death issues for me. They never have. I am just happy to be pretty active for my age, after all the physical abuse my body has taken over the years.

[Smilesy]

Its interesting what pressure does. The best shots I have every played have all come when really under the pump in match play, the best was a when one down on the last, opponent already on the green but not that close, I needed a birdie, hit a 9i to about a foot. Interestingly though when I'm doing well in a stroke play event I'm a massive choker. The last round of my club championships I was easily in the top 8 (make it into match play) but choked big time and finished 6 over for the last 3 holes to miss out by 2 shots. That article makes me think I need to work out what makes me choke. I have a feeling I fear loosing too much in the stroke events, were in match play the worst you can do is loose a hole, the pressure is totally different. I have a world amateur ranking event next week (I just want to make the cut, some of the guys in it are off +5) so I'll try and think a bit differently in that and see if I can focus on success rather than failure.

[chipandcharge]

JMHO, but like the yips, choking has it's origins in being scared of failure. Being scared means losing focus on the task at hand. Any way that's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

I guess people choke for different reasons, as I would expect.  I usually don't experience jitters in competition, but I was setting for a volleyball club, playing Purdue in the semifinals of the class A USVBA midwest section.  At 13-13, playing to 15 in the second set, the enormity of the situation must have gotten to me.  I was able to run one of the options but chose the wrong option, and we got blocked.  In another situation, it was 5-5 in the third of three sets in the Danville, IL, men's 35 and over singles tournament, and I got the jitters so bad that I could hardly hold the tennis racquet. I lost the set.  My execution became sub-standard.  I haven't experienced this in golf yet, but I imagine that it might happen on a crucial swing or putt.  I remember advice that said to stay in the moment and not consider what might happen, good or bad.

[Pretzel]

The interesting part to me is this section:

Those with high loss aversion performed well when there were potential gains of $25 or $50, but when offered a $100 reward, they choked. The opposite happened to those with low loss aversion: their performance improved with both increasing prospective gains and increasing prospective losses, but they choked when threatened with a $100 loss.

So it looks like the people who don't like losing choke when they stand to gain quite a bit, and those who love to win more than they hate to lose choke when they stand to lose a lot.

I guess if you hate losing just think about what you stand to lose, and if you just love winning think about what you stand to gain.

[Yukari]

Hmm, I am pretty sure I like to avoid. At times in a softball league I was in I would often hope that I was not the batter who would come to the plate with a chance to win the game, either hoping we would win before or lose before it came to me. I did not want to be the final batter.

I will say, as I have aged I have found that I am starting to like the spotlight a bit more. Still not as much as others, but more then when I was a kid.

I guess in a way, I am the opposite.  I always like the spotlight.  That's why I like being in front of the class and teaching.  I also enjoy the first tee shot in front of others.  It gets my adrenaline going.  I love that rush.  That must also be the reason why I hate losing.

[rkim291968]

On golf, I thrive under pressure compare to others.   Maybe, I like spot light and/or focus better when needed.

Examples:

There were about 10 of us in beginner golf class (8 sessions).  On the last day, the instructor took us to a par 3 hole to get a taste of playing.   With everyone watching, each of us hit a ball from 90 yards from green.   Guess who was the only one who put the ball on green?  Moi.

My 1st ever tournament (two day round, 90% handicap), I placed 2nd out of 46 players.

I tend to do better where there is an audience.  When a slow 4-some lets me pass through, even when I was hitting poor tee shots until then, I tend to nail the drive (while 4 pairs of eyes are watching).

It is mental I know.   If I can control it, I think I can lower my HI by 3 - 4 points in a heartbeat.

[Lihu]

On golf, I thrive under pressure compare to others.   Maybe, I like spot light and/or focus better when needed.

Examples:

There were about 10 of us in beginner golf class (8 sessions).  On the last day, the instructor took us to a par 3 hole to get a taste of playing.   With everyone watching, each of us hit a ball from 90 yards from green.   Guess who was the only one who put the ball on green?  Moi.

My 1st ever tournament (two day round, 90% handicap), I placed 2nd out of 46 players.

I tend to do better where there is an audience.  When a slow 4-some lets me pass through, even when I was hitting poor tee shots until then, I tend to nail the drive (while 4 pairs of eyes are watching).

It is mental I know.   If I can control it, I think I can lower my HI by 3 - 4 points in a heartbeat.

You should bring an entourage.

[RFKFREAK]

I get what I call nervous energy when eyes are on me.  If I'm prepared or feel like I'm proficient in something, I feel as though I rise to the occasion and enjoy the spotlight.  If I'm not prepared or don't feel confident in that what I'm doing, I tend to not succeed.

I would say I'm generally a loss-averse type of person.  I enjoy winning but, man, if I felt I should have won something and didn't, that will eat at me like nothing else..

[RickK]

Golf is a funny game.  And, how we react under pressure has a lot of factors that come into play...IMHO.

I remember the first club I belonged to years ago.  The clubhouse sat up on a hillside with the balcony outside the men's grill overlooking both the #1 tee box and down below that tee box was #18 green where the approach was pretty much all carry over water.  On any given Saturday the balcony would be full of guys drinking and betting on whether or not you would get off the first tee or if you were going to hit it in water coming into 18.  If you played there, you knew it was happening.  Yelling out after each shot was just common and you had to learn to deal with it.

I think it made me a better player.  You definitely learned to concentrate more and try to hit a good shot.  I heard more than once "Man, you cost me 5bucks yesterday when you dogged it off the tee."

I play in a golf league and we often times have lots of guys standing around on the first tee when we are teeing off.  I really do like knowing I need to hit a good tee shot so as not to hear "wow, that was ugly".

The toughest pressure I think I play under is at one of the clubs I play out of at their annual MGA top money winners shootout.  There is when I do feel the choke factor coming into play.  The tee shots do not bother me.  What happens in our shootout is that the top 18 money winners go out in 2 groups (of 9).  On each hole, someone (or 2) is eliminated.  If several tie for worst score then there is a chip off.  I need to add, that when this shootout is going on...you probably have somewhere between 50 and 80 people following who are not in the shootout...guys and their wives/girlfriends.  Playing my normal shots is not the issue.  It is when you are in those chip offs and have to play a 20 or 30 yard pitch over a bunker and the guy fartherest from the hole is eliminated.  You have to turn your back to the guy whose turn it is until he has played his shot and marked his ball.  You don't get to see any of the shots in the chip off.  Bear in mind, there are guys usually in this shootout who may be anywhere from 2 or 3 handicap to 30 handicappers.  But, when it comes down to the chip off...no strokes are involved.  I really think the fear factor comes in from not wanting to embarass yourself.

[Parker0065]

"The Johns Hopkins study found that those who hated losing the most choked when told that they stood to win the most , while those who cared more about winning choked when they stood to lose something significant. In other words, it's all about how you frame the incentive: as a loss or as a gain."

I definitely fall into the "loss adverse" category!

You never forget the first time you choke, it's like your first love, you just never forget. For me I was 13 and competing in my first real tournament. It was the biggest Junior tournament in our area in southern Michigan at the time and I started off playing great.

I was consistently shooting in the 70's that summer but had never put my game under the gun. I pared the first 4 holes and on the 5th tee one of my competitors came up to me and simply said "the way your playing your going to win this thing easily"! Well that's all it took and I completely disintegrated thinking about receiving that big trophy and getting my name in the paper. I think I shot like a 93 that day, pretty ugly.

It was a great lesson in not losing focus and not paying attention to what my opponents were saying! To this day I don't know if the kid said it to throw me off my game or because he thought I could really win but after that I trained myself to block opponents out in tournament play.

Then there was the 1982 Michigan Boys H.S. State Championship that I get sick to my stomach any and every time I think of it. We were one of the best overall "teams" in the State that year. We didn't have anyone that could go out and shoot 65, but our tournament scoring averages ranged from 71-75 for all 5 of us and in high school golf that equated to routing about 99% of anyone we played. We even faced the team that would be our strongest competition at States during the regular season and beat them soundly at our home course. That day was the highlight of my high school playing days, I was medalist shooting under par!

We were, if not the favorite, definitely one of the top two or three favorites to win States. I choked big time, but so did the entire team with all of us shooting 4-5 shots above our scoring average and finishing 4th. I can still feel that feeling of that long ride home in the team van, every head was down and not a word was spoken! ( I'm going to go throw up now just thinking and writing about this sad memory )!

Another situation was after I joined the military. I didn't get the opportunity to play much competitively my first couple years in the Army until I was stationed with the 2nd ID. There were 3 big tournaments leading up to the Division Championship and in the first two I had the lead after the first round and blew both of them. Looking at the leader board and seeing I had a 2 shot lead in one of them and a 3 shot lead in the other was all it took for me to go out there and play not to lose, which I did, lol!

After that second tournament I could have spit fire I was so pissed at myself. When the third tournament came around it was no smiles and all business. I wanted blood and my focus was dead on from the first tee shot to the last putt and I easily won. No looking at leader boards or joking with competitors, it was all workman like.  When the Divisional Championship came around it was more of the same and I ran away with it.

After that tournament I received one of the nicest compliments from the guy who I had lost to in the first two events and was a solid scratch golfer. He came up to me and said "I was waiting for you" I said what do you mean? He said "I was waiting for you to start blowing us away because I can get the ball around the course and shoot some good scores but you have all the shots and are in a different league"! A nice compliment and a big ego burst for me!

If you play this game competitively at any level your going to have ups and downs. I think experience and understanding how you as an individual deal with pressure is priceless when learning to deal with choking. Choking is painful and when it happens you want to just forget about it but it's one of the best learning experiences you'll ever get if you go back and analyze what happened and what you can change to improve.

For myself after a major choking event I've always taken a day or two away from the game doing something else to let the pain dissipate. Then I come back with a clearer head and go through the events of what happened and what I can do to improve my thinking the next time I'm in that situation.

Through age and experience I've learned what situations I'm most likely to choke in. If I'm heavily favored against equal competition I work hard at downplaying and minimizing it in my mind because I know I'm setup to choke. I thrive as the underdog and excel against opponents that "really like themselves" if you know what I mean.

More recently a couple years ago I was in a Match Play event and drew the #1 seeded player whom all the other competitors had deemed unbeatable. I quickly fell 3 down after 5 and it wasn't looking good. I managed a half on holes 6 and 7 and busted a big drive on the Par-5 8th. As I'm walking to my ball it just out of the blue comes to me that I've beaten competitors a lot better than my opponent through the years and there's no reason I can't win this match. That thought really settled me down and I knocked the ball on the green and won the hole with a two putt birdie. I would go on to birdie 3 of the next 4 holes to gain a 2 up lead. I could tell my competitor was getting a little frazzled but was a tough competitor and we battled hard the last 6 holes. I managed to get a 60 foot bunker shot on 18 up and down to win 1-Up.

Perhaps in this case my opponent was also loss adverse and when I started making birdies they started thinking they were losing control of the match. It was a fun match though, combined we made a total of 13 birdies between the two of us with a number of holes being halved with birdies.

Bottom line is I think choking is a great learning experience if you take the time to analyze what happened. The knowledge and experience you can gain from choking is priceless and can help you right the ship when things are going wrong.

[natureboy]

Basically it all comes down to how you perceive the incentive, as a loss or a gain. For me, I think I'd be in the high loss adverse group that choked when the incentive was framed as a gain. In terms of golf, I never won a tournament in college but had a couple decent tournaments. I remember the potential to win a tournament freaked me out. Just being honest

When I won matches in match play it was always one or two up. I would also feel "uncomfortable" if I was up early. I typically felt more comfortable if I had a putt to halve than a putt to win the hole.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/07/why-we-choke-under-pressu_n_6096916.html

Did you have any different mindset / outlook when playing to help your team win? My thought is that there may be something to this difference that helps certain players thrive in an event like Ryder Cup vs. stroke play Majors.

[Crim]

Edit...that post was meant for a different thread