Choke (sports)

The explicit monitoring theory provides an explanation for athlete’s under-performance at the precise moment they need to be at their best. Sian Beilock and Tom Carr suggest that “pressure raises self-consciousness and anxiety about performing correctly, which increases the attention paid to skill processes and their step-by-step control. Attention to execution at this step-by-step level is thought to disrupt well-learned or proceduralized performances.”[9]

Distraction theory was first suggested by Wine [10] to explain under-performance in performance pressure situations. Distraction theorists argue that pressure creates a dual task situation which draws attention away from the task at hand. Attention is then focused towards irrelevant stimuli such as worries, social expectations, and anxiety [9] Wine first tested his hypothesis with academic tests but it has since been applied to athletics.

Research has found that distraction theory is supported in situations where working memory is used to analyze and make decisions quickly.[11] Short term memory is used to maintain relevant stimuli and block irrelevant information as it relates to the task at hand.[12]

A study at Arizona University looked at how athletes of different levels of experiences responded to distraction and self-analysis, and found that novice baseball players were more likely to see a drop in performance from a distracting noise. However, it also found that more experienced players were more susceptible to underperformance when they were asked to focus on their technique.[13]

This theory predicts a decrease in performance is due to attention being shifted to movement execution. Any combination of factors that increase the importance of performing is considered performance pressure. Baumeister’s self-focus theory suggests responding to performance pressure can lead to an increase in self-consciousness which then results in choking.[14] There is more focus on the motor components of performance, consciously controlling movements with step-by-step control.[15]

Anxiety causes a shift in an athlete’s attention towards thought of performance consequences and failure.[16] An increase in worry decreases attention resources. According to PET, athletes put extra effort into their performance when under pressure, to eliminate negative performance. Eysenck and Calvo found processing efficiency is affected by negative anxiety more than performance effectiveness. Efficiency being the relationship between the quality of task performance and the effort spent in task performance.[17]

Eysenck and Calvo developed ACT an extension to PET, hypothesizing an individual shifts attention to irrelevant stimuli. Stress and pressure cause an increase in the stimulus-driven system and a decrease in the goal-directed system. Disruption of balance between these two systems causes the individual to respond to salient stimuli rather than focusing on current goals.[18] ACT identifies the basic central executive functions inhibition and shifting, which are affected by anxiety. Inhibition is the ability to minimize distractions caused from irrelevant stimuli.[19] Shifting requires adapting to changes in attentional control. Shifting back and forth between mental sets due to task demands.[20]

According to the attentional threshold model, a performance decrement is caused by exceeded threshold of attentional capacity. This model combines both the self-focus models and the distraction models. The combination of worry and self-focus together causes a decrease in performance. Attentional Threshold Model suggests that choking is a complex process involving cognitive, emotional and attentional factors.[21]

FNE is a psychological characteristic that increases anxiety under high pressure. Creates apprehension about others' evaluations or expectations of oneself.[22] FNE is similar to motive to avoid failure (MaF). The need to avoid negative evaluation from others, avoid mistakes and avoid negative comparison to other players.[23]

The presence of parents, coaches, media or scouts can increase pressure leading to choking. An athlete wants to perform their best while being observed and trying not to make any mistakes increases the amount of pressure they are under.[23]

Being over-confident can cause negativity to take over quickly. Not expecting something negative to happen can cause a choke. Having low self-confidence leads to more mistakes, because you do not think you can do anything.[23]

A study done by Wang, Marchant, Morris and Gibbs (2004) found poor performance associated with high self-conscious individuals. An individual with high self-consciousness focuses their attention to thoughts relating to the task (i.e., “did I step right?”) and to outside concerns (i.e., “will people laugh if I mess up?”). Individuals with low self-consciousness can direct their attention outward or inward because self-concerns do not dominate their thinking.[24]

A study done by Klein Teeselink, Potter van Loon, Van den Assem and Van Dolder (2018) found that professional darts players are substantially less susceptible of choking than amateurs and youngsters.[25]

In a Wild Card playoff matchup between the Buffalo Bills and the Houston Oilers on January 3, 1993, the Oilers lost a 32-point lead[28] to lose in overtime, the largest in a playoff game in NFL history. This game is known to this day as The Comeback, or locally in Houston as The Choke.[29]

The England National Football Team has been noted in the last 30 years especially for their under-performance in major tournaments, and for their lack of success in penalty shootouts.[30][31] They lost shootouts against Germany in the 1990 World Cup Semi Finals, and in the 1996 European Championship Semi Finals. They lost a shootout against Argentina in the 1998 World Cup Second Round. They then lost two shootouts against Portugal in successive tournaments in 2004 and 2006. Most recently they lost a penalty shootout to Italy in the 2012 European Championships. They have also had notable instances of losing or under-performing in important matches, such as the loss against USA in 1950, surrendering a two-goal lead to West Germany in 1970, drawing against Poland in 1973 when they needed to win to qualify for the World Cup, and losing against Iceland in the 2016 European Championships.

In the 1999 UEFA Champions League Final Bayern Munich conceded two goals in injury time to lose 2–1 to Manchester United. Despite the setback, they went on to win the Champions League two years later.[32]

In the 2005 final, AC Milan lost on penalties having led 3–0 at half-time. The match was dubbed the "Miracle of Istanbul", with Liverpool scoring three goals in six minutes to draw level. Andriy Shevchenko saw his decisive penalty kick saved by Jerzy Dudek to settle the match. [33]

In the first knockout round of the 2016–17 UEFA Champions League, Paris Saint-Germain F.C. lost a 4-goal aggregate lead to FC Barcelona. PSG had won the first leg at home by 4–0, and had scored an away goal at the Camp Nou to lead 5–3 on aggregate after 88 minutes. However, two late goals from Neymar and a stoppage time winner from Sergi Roberto gave Barcelona a 6–1 win on the night and a 6–5 triumph on aggregate. Some commentators have called this one of the biggest chokes in footballing history.[34]

South Africa suffered upset losses against the West Indies in 1996 and New Zealand in 2011 and 2015.[35] South Africa's win in the 1998 ICC KnockOut Trophy remains their only international tournament victory to date.

In the 2013 Champions Trophy final against India, England batted second and got into a position of needing just 20 runs off the last 16 balls, with six wickets in hand, but lost four wickets in the space of eight balls and lost the match by five runs.[36]

Greg Norman was leading the 1996 Masters Tournament by six strokes after three rounds, but scored a 6 over par 78 to allow Nick Faldo to win by five strokes, with a 5 under par 67. [37][38][39]

Jean van de Velde only needed a double-bogey 6 to win the 1999 British Open. Instead he scored a triple-bogey 7 on the 18th hole and entered a play-off which he lost. [40] [41]

Rory McIlroy led the 2011 Masters Tournament from the start of the tournament, and led by 4 strokes before the final round, but ended up falling out of the top ten at the tournament, after dropping six shots in three holes in the closing stages. [42][43]

Four NHL teams have taken a 3–0 series lead in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, only to lose 4–3 in the best-of-seven series: the 1942 Detroit Red Wings, 1975 Pittsburgh Penguins, 2010 Boston Bruins, and 2014 San Jose Sharks.[44]

In Game 3 of the first round of the 1982 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the heavily favored Edmonton Oilers, led by NHL legend Wayne Gretzky, lost a 5-0 lead to the Los Angeles Kings. The Kings won 6-5 in overtime and pulled off the stunning upset knocking off the Oilers 3-2. The Kings ended up losing in the second round against the Vancouver Canucks, who advanced to the championship round.[44]

Snooker, where a player's nerves are an important aspect of the game, produces many instances where a player fails to close out a match, or are unable to produce on the big stage. Mike Hallett was leading 7-0 and 8-2 in the Masters final, a first to nine frames match against Stephen Hendry, before Hendry came back to win 9-8.[45]

Jimmy White reached the final of the World Snooker Championship six times, and lost each time, against Steve Davis, John Parrott and Stephen Hendry. Notably he lost a 14-8 lead to Hendry in 1992, losing 18-14. Two years later he missed a black off its spot in the final and deciding frame to gift Hendry another title. To add insult to injury it was his 32nd birthday on the day. [39]

In the 1993 Wimbledon final, Steffi Graf played Jana Novotná. After Novotná lost the first set, she won 10 of the last 12 games, leading 4-1, serving at 40-30. She then hit the worst 2 serves of her career, and went on to eventually lose 7-6, 1-6, 6-4. [46][39]

Daniela Hantuchová's mental fragility has been a factor in many of her losses, particularly in 2003 when her parents were in the process of a divorce. At the French Open she lost in the second round in a marathon match to Ashley Harkleroad 7–6(2) 4–6 9–7 making 101 unforced errors, [47] but more famously she lost in the same year in the second round of Wimbledon to Shinobu Asagoe 0–6 6–4 12–10, with Hantuchová breaking down crying during the latter stages of the match after missing three match points and making numerous unforced errors. [48]

Peter Wright missed six match darts in the 2017 Premier League Darts final against world champion Michael van Gerwen, eventually losing the match and forgoing the accompanying £250,000 of prize money. [49] [50]. An analysis of tens of thousands of darts matches by Klein Teeselink, Potter van Loon, Van den Assem and Van Dolder (2018) showed that this is a general phenomenon: amateur and youth darts players display a sizable decrease in performance at decisive moments. Professional players, however, were found to be less susceptible to choking under pressure.[51]