Science of Why Athletes Choke Under Pressure

Why is that some athletes can keep their calm and perform in moments of extreme pressure and others cannot? How it is that some athletes can perform in situations so stressful that even the spectators are too anxious to watch. Why it is that when everything is on the line, some athletes can pull off the seemingly impossible while others choke under the bright lights

In this video, I summarize sport psychology research to answer these questions. This is the first video in a multiple part video series that describes why we choke under pressure and what we can do to stop this from happening.

When you are in a situation in which you perceive that there is something valuable on the line and you aren’t sure that you have the skills to rise to the occasion, your body initiates a physiological and psychological response called the stress response. All of us are familiar with this response. It is the butterflies we feel when talking to the person we are attracted to, the shaky legs we feel when speaking in front of a group of people, the sweaty hands we get when we experience heights, or the tension we feel when looking at snakes. These situations cause our heart rate, blood pressure and breathing to increase, and our attention to narrow. These physiological effects can negatively influence our focus, which is what often leads us to choke. There are 4 theories that explain how this happens:

1. Distraction Theories (Miss relevant information, fixate on unhelpful stimuli)
2. Signal Detection (hypersensitive to stimuli)
3. Conscious processing (focus on the step by step mechanics)
4. Ironic Effect (focus on a bad outcome as you try to suppress it)

Sources:

[barbaramauro-aninipot]

Never stop posting content, Please! Love your work.

[MrLottoLife]

This was a really great video! I'm studying this for my performance on online slots.

[alisaleemali]

Amazing content that's beautifully said and summarized. Wow your really well spoken 👍
Can't wait for next video. Also If possible can you do a "Wim Hof method" video, it be super helpful, thanks.

[jordantravis]

Were you able to complete the other videos for this multi-series video? Good info, very nice summary!

[masteryblueprint_]

Once you understand WHY you choke under pressure, it becomes easier to figure out HOW to prevent it. In other words, you first need to identify the PROBLEM in order to be able to come up with a SOLUTION.

This video was about the WHY / PROBLEM. More specifically, the purpose of this video was to explain how the stress response impairs our attention in different ways (which leads to sub-optimal performance).

The next few videos will be about the HOW / SOLUTION.

This is the 1st video of a 3 part series about choking under pressure and what we can do to prevent it.

Stay tuned!

[faheemmohammedv]

Pls make a video on soccer fitness for 90 min game

[ay]

thats why we need to stay calm and trust God will deliver us