![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sportmindcoach.co.za\/academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/team-disappointment-in-sport.jpg\")
<\/p>\nChoking is one of the biggest fears for many athletes and sports teams and is often perceived as worse than losing. No player or team is immune to it; even great champions have fallen victim to choking and we all know the disappointment when this happens.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
There are many examples of this happening e.g.:<\/p>\n
Rory McIlroy’s Collapse at the 2024 U.S. Open –\u00a0<\/strong>In June 2024, Rory McIlroy was leading the U.S. Open by two strokes with five holes remaining. However, he faltered in the closing stretch, missing crucial putts and recording three bogeys in the final four holes, ultimately losing his lead and the championship.<\/p>\n England’s Penalty Shootout Struggles in Euro 2024 – <\/strong>In the UEFA Euro 2024 quarterfinals, England faced Portugal in a penalty shootout. Despite a strong performance during regular play, England missed three consecutive penalties, leading to their elimination from the tournament.<\/p>\n Serena Williams (2015 U.S. Open Semifinals) –\u00a0<\/strong>Serena Williams was just two matches away from completing a calendar Grand Slam but succumbed to the pressure and lost to unseeded Roberta Vinci. Vinci played fearlessly, while Williams appeared tense and unfocused.<\/p>\n South Africa Cricket Team (1999 Cricket World Cup) – <\/strong>One of the most infamous examples of choking in sports history, South Africa needed one run to advance to the final. In the last over, Allan Donald and Lance Klusener had a miscommunication while running between the wickets, resulting in a run-out. The match ended in a tie, and Australia advanced based on their superior net run rate, leaving South Africa heartbroken.<\/p>\n Jana Novotn\u00e1 (1993 Wimbledon Final) –\u00a0<\/strong>Novotn\u00e1 was leading 4\u20131 in the third set of the Wimbledon final against Steffi Graf when nerves got the better of her. She made numerous unforced errors, allowing Graf to win five consecutive games and take the championship.<\/p>\n Ireland vs. New Zealand \u2013 2013 (Last-Minute Collapse) –\u00a0<\/strong>Ireland led the All Blacks 22\u20137 with 20 minutes remaining in Dublin, seemingly on the cusp of their first-ever victory over New Zealand. However, Ireland choked under the relentless pressure, conceding 14 points, including a last-minute converted try, to lose 24\u201322.<\/p>\n \u201cChoking in sport can be defined as the failure of an individual athlete or team to win a game or tournament when the player or team had been strongly favored to win or had squandered a large lead in the late stages of the event\u201d.<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Wikipedia<\/p>\n \u201cchoking is suboptimal performance, not just poor performance. It is performance that is inferior to what you can do and have done in the past.\u00a0<\/em>Sian Beilock<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n You may have wondered what causes performance choking and what can be done when it happens?<\/p>\n \u00a0Performance choking is caused by an ego that is afraid of looking bad. You must learn to leave your ego outside of your event.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>Gonzalez<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Performance choking stems from the ego\u2019s fear of looking bad. Athletes often feel immense pressure to succeed, and when the fear of failure dominates their focus, it triggers a physical and psychological response that undermines performance.<\/p>\n Get you ego out the way!<\/strong> The reason why choking is so devastating, is because it can strike at any time and you cannot simply \u201ctrain harder\u201d to prevent it<\/strong>. \u201cChoking\u201d is essentially caused by focusing on the outcome<\/strong> and being concerned about looking bad.<\/strong> \u201cChoking\u201d can also be described as a physical response that is triggered by the psychological threat to the ego.<\/p>\n \u201cChoking is about thinking too much. Panic is about thinking too little. Choking is about loss of instinct. Panic is reversion to instinct. They may look the same, but they are worlds apart.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0<\/strong>Malcolm Gladwell<\/p><\/blockquote>\n However it is important to remember that although the physical symptoms of\u00a0\u201cpanicking\u201d and \u201cchoking\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0may seem similar, it has a\u00a0different cause<\/strong>\u00a0and it is important to note that \u201cchoking\u201d is more than just having a\u00a0fear of failure.\u00a0\u00a0When panicking, stress can erase short term memory. Many people recall in times of\u00a0panic that they could not think properly<\/strong>, and rely on their instincts. Experienced people fare better in moments of panic, as they can calmly rely on their long term memory to guide them through the skill, which is why panicking can be less detrimental at a high performance level, than \u201cchoking\u201d.\u00a0Choking on the other hand is more about “overthinking”.<\/strong><\/p>\n Fear is in your head and \u201cchoking\u201d happens when performance is actually affected by the nervousness, stress, and worries\u00a0about looking bad<\/strong>\u00a0if things go wrong. It\u2019s very different from the fear of facing a dangerous or life-threatening situation. These are subtle distinctions, but result in big differences in how the brain to act. \u00a0When outside stresses shift attention, “the pre-frontal cortex stops working the way it should and we focus on aspects of what we are doing that should be out of consciousness. (Beilock) That’s right we start to overthink our performance.<\/p>\n “Choking isn’t just poor performance, it is performing worse than you are capable of because there is a lot on the line. While it doesn’t always happen on a world stage, nor in the sporting arena, choking is remarkably common basically anywhere the stakes are high and we don’t want to fail”\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>University of Chicago psychologist Sian Beilock, author of\u00a0Choke.<\/b><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Understanding\u00a0how\u00a0explicit and implicit learning<\/strong>\u00a0influences our ability to perform under pressure becomes crucial.\u00a0Explicit learning<\/strong>\u00a0happens when you\u00a0first learn<\/strong>\u00a0a new skill or technique and you break it down into the basic elements\u00a0consciously<\/strong>\u00a0and with awareness. In contrast,\u00a0implicit learning<\/strong>\u00a0can be seen as learning outside awareness. High Performance Athletes have exceptionally developed implicit learning systems.<\/p>\n Why is this important you may wonder.<\/strong>\u00a0In highly stressful competitive situations, the brain can become so obsessed to win that it reverts to depending on the\u00a0explicit system<\/strong>\u00a0to complete the skill. As many athletes have not depended on the explicit system since learning their skills initially, they have essentially regressed to a beginner status.\u00a0Choking is therefor essentially caused by reverting back to the explicit system<\/strong>\u00a0by overthinking and holding on to the outcome.<\/p>\n Mental resilience distinguishes champions. By understanding and managing choking, athletes can regain control, stay composed, and perform when it matters most.<\/p>\n Sport is ultimately a mental challenge and as the physical requirements, to perform at a higher level become more demanding, the mental side of performance increases even more. What distinguishes excellence is often not the physical ability or skills level, but the mental ability to perform when it counts.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cChampions focus on what they can control. They know that while they can\u2019t always control what takes place during an event, they can always control how they respond.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Gonzalez<\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Choking is one of the biggest fears for many athletes and sports teams and is often perceived as worse than losing. No player or team is immune to it; even […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2287,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2283","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Ego and Performance Choking<\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sportmindcoach.co.za\/academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/napkin-selection-7.png\")
<\/p>\n\n\n\n\nHow to deal with \u201cPerformance Choking\u201d.
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sportmindcoach.co.za\/academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/napkin-selection-23.png\")
<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
Get your head out the way and let your body do!<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\n\n\n\n