Lecture 10- Attention, Stress & 'Choking' in Sport Flashcards
(14 cards)
What is “Choking” in sport?
Choking occurs when an individual perceives their resources as insufficient to meet the demands of a high-pressure situation, leading to a significant drop in performance.
What are the symptoms of choking?
Tense muscles
Increased heart rate
Racing thoughts
Feelings of panic
Loss of attentional control
What are the core characteristics of choking?
- Acute and substantial underperformance in a one-off event
- Occurs because athletes try too hard, disrupting automatic processing
What causes choking? (Broad overview)
- Attentional disturbances
- Stress → Anxiety → Narrow/Internal attentional focus
- Self-focused thinking
- Distracted thinking
How do attentional disturbances cause choking?
- Triggered by heightened anxiety
- Leads to a narrowed attentional focus and internal self-monitoring
- Disrupts normal decision-making processes
What is the stress-anxiety-attention link in choking?
High arousal → Narrow attentional focus → Compromised decision-making → Shift to self-focused thinking
What happens during self-focused thinking?
- Attention shifts to self-monitoring
- Disrupts automatic skill execution
- Causes overthinking and loss of fluid responses
What happens during distracted thinking?
- Attention diverted to irrelevant thoughts (e.g. doubts, worries)
- Impaired information processing
- Insufficient attention for task-relevant cues
What is the Self-Consciousness Model of choking?
- Under pressure, athletes consciously monitor automatic skills
- Leads to internal focus, overthinking, slower response times
What do Distraction Theories say about choking?
- Stress overloads cognitive resources
- Skill execution competes with distracting thoughts
- Information overload reduces working memory capacity
What is the combined outcome of self-consciousness + distraction?
- Reduced efficiency
- Greater risk of choking
How can self-focus-based interventions prevent choking?
- Use analogies to promote automaticity
- Positive, task-focused self-talk
- Centering techniques to relax and clear the mind
How can distraction-based interventions prevent choking?
- Pre-performance routines to eliminate distractions
- “Quiet Eye” movements to maintain focus
- Simulation training for stress inoculation and resilience
What are key MST (Mental Skills Training) guidelines for choking prevention?
- Develop stress coping skills
- Apply “Attention-Concentration” techniques
