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Your favorite athlete 
closes in for a victorious win.

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The crowd holds its breath,

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and, at the crucial moment,
she misses the shot.

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That competitor just experienced 
the phenomenon known as "choking,"

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where despite months, 
even years, of practice,

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a person fails right when it matters most.

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Choking is common in sports,

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where performance often occurs 
under intense pressure

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and depends on key moments.

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And yet, performance anxiety 
also haunts public speakers,

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contestants in spelling bees,

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and even world-famous musicians.

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Most people intuitively
blame it on their nerves,

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but why does being nervous 
undermine expert performance?

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There are two sets of theories,

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which both say that primarily, choking 
under pressure boils down to focus.

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First, there are the distraction theories.

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These suggest that performance suffers 
when the mind is preoccupied

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with worries, doubts, or fears,

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instead of focusing its attention
on performing the task at hand.

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When relevant and irrelevant thoughts 
compete for the same attention,

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something has to give.

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The brain can only process 
so much information at once.

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Tasks that challenge working memory,

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the mental “scratch pad” we use

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to temporarily store phone numbers 
and grocery lists,

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are especially vulnerable to pressure.

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In a 2004 study, 
a group of university students

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were asked to perform math problems,

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some easy, others more complex 
and memory-intensive.

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Half the students completed both problem
types with nothing at stake,

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while the others completed them 
when calm and under pressure.

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While everyone did well 
on the easy problems,

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those who were stressed 
performed worse

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on the more difficult, 
memory-intensive tasks.

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Explicit monitoring theories make up 
the second group of explanations

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for choking under pressure.

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They’re concerned with how pressure

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can cause people to overanalyze
the task at hand.

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Here, the logic goes that 
once a skill becomes automatic,

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thinking about its precise mechanics 
interferes with your ability to do it.

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Tasks we do unconsciously seem to be
most vulnerable to this kind of choking.

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A study on competitive golfers compared 
their performance

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when instructed to simply focus on
putting as accurately as possible,

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versus when they were primed 
to be acutely aware

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of the mechanics of their putting stroke.

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Golfers usually perform 
this action subconsciously,

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so those who suddenly tuned in 
to the precise details of their own moves

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also became worse 
at making accurate shots.

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Choking may not be inevitable 
for everyone though.

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Research suggests that some are
more susceptible than others,

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especially those who are self-conscious,

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anxious,

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and afraid of being judged 
negatively by others.

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So, how can we avoid choking 
when it really counts?

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First, it helps to practice 
under stressful conditions.

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In a study on expert dart players,

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researchers found that those 
who hadn’t practiced under stress

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performed worse when anxious,

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compared to those who had 
become accustomed to pressure.

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Secondly, many performers extol the 
virtues of a pre-performance routine,

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whether it’s taking a few deep breaths,

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repeating a cue word,

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or doing a rhythmic sequence of movements.

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Studies on golfing, bowling, 
and water polo

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find that short rituals can lead 
to more consistent

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and accurate performance under pressure.

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And thirdly, researchers have shown

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that having an external focus 
on the ultimate goal

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works better than an internal focus,

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where someone is tuned into the mechanics 
of what they’re doing.

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A study of experienced golfers revealed 
that those who hit chip shots

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while focused on the flight of the ball

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performed significantly better than those
who focused on the motion of their arms.

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So, perhaps we can modify 
that age-old saying:

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practice,

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under pressure,

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with focus,

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and with that glorious end goal in sight,

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makes perfect.