The choking phenomenon

I have been intrigued by the slew of comments that emanated from the recent implosion of Rory McIlroy at The Masters.

The scribes in general have rightly been full of sympathy for the youngster, unanimously agreeing that he will in due course don that green jacket and this disappointing memory will be an essential reference point for future stardom. Rory impressed with his maturity in immediately acknowledging his spectacular meltdown and steadfastly looking towards a triumphant return in the future.

It will not surprise that those journalists of a more sinister nature unearthed the choke word and hammered that home with regular monotony. Sounds familiar doesn’t it? For obvious reasons, that caught my attention. Some respected media personnel decided to take a more constructive approach and analyze exactly what went wrong and why.

Two former cricketing professionals who have entertained me over the years with their insight also activated on this subject and provided some clarity on this aspect that has plagued many an international sportsman or team.

Jeremy Snape, formally of England and now a renowned sports psychologist, dipped into why sportsmen tend to choke or panic in crucial junctures of a game. In essence he surmised that, “When we perceive a threat in our environment, we instinctively react in one of three ways, fight, flight, or freeze. The more we force ourselves beyond our comfort zones and into the cauldron of high pressure, the more likely we are to experience and become comfortable with these natural reactions. Top class performers in sport or business have the ability to acknowledge this and manage to override instinct with a chosen and measured response.”

He tellingly also explained that panic has a domino effect and once a crucial juncture of a match exposes that raw characteristic, it is difficult to abruptly halt that theme permeating throughout the remainder of the team and eventually calamity is an unwelcome foe. His overriding message was a pertinent one.

Only the people who have dared to test themselves under extreme pressure will adequately overcome this obstacle that has caused a fatal flaw in many an exceptional sportsman, therefore inhibiting progression to an esteemed level.

Former Indian opening batsman Aakash Chopra chimed in with, “The fundamental difference is that while you think too much when you choke, you think too little when you panic. While choking, you want to delay the inevitable, but when you panic you want to get it over with as soon as possible, for you can't bear the growing pressure.”

Choking is the consequence of our minds being cluttered by a barrage of negative thoughts that suddenly invade our headspace at clutch moments. These negatives then tend to dominate the thought process, robbing of conviction. The resultant reaction clouds clarity and confusion reigns regarding the handling of the immediate situation and the all important sense of belief vanishes, resulting in errors.

Jeremy Snape concludes, “In managing our breathing and thought processes effectively at these critical times we all could and should learn to elevate ourselves from chokers to champions.”

Let’s also not fool ourselves though. If mental toughness is not in your sporting DNA, then long term success will be elusive.