Breaking the Choke(hold)

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Research Corner

Choke refers to a massive, unexpected decline in performance in a high level athlete specifically during a high-stakes situation in spite of appropriate preparation and expertise. It’s not merely that they lose - its that they lose spectacularly, performing like an entirely different athlete than the one that stepped onto the field or into the ring.

This very human phenomenon is most often seen in sports, but also can happen to any highly skilled individual put in a stressful situation - like performing a sonata, a complex surgery, or flying a plane.

Researchers have proposed multiple theories to explain why and how choking occurs. Let’s look at a few:

• Explicit Monitoring Theory: The athlete essentially becomes self-conscious, causing them to overthink about movements that are typically performed in an automatic fashion. They override their subconscious execution of well-practiced skills, leading to clunky, inefficient execution. If you’ve ever driven on the opposite side of the road in a foreign country and/or switched to an opposite-side drive vehicle you’ve experienced what happens when your conscious brain takes back control of the typically automatic actions of driving - instead of cruising down the road enjoying music, you are now intensely focused on the task at hand attempting to not make a costly mistake.

• Distraction Theory: Performance declines when an athlete’s focus shifts from the task to worries about failure, external evaluation, or outcomes. This occurs especially in sports that are long or drawn out, where there is ample opportunity in between points or sets to dwell on the current score and how many points or how much time is left, or when stakes are the highest such as the finals match of a competition.

• Attentional Control Theory: Anxiety affects focus, making it harder to ignore distractions and maintain goal-directed attention. Instead of being focused on the exact number of points or pros and cons of winning and losing, the athlete’s general anxiety makes it difficult to shut out irrelevant stimuli and focus on the match at hand. If you’ve ever fumbled a match after your glove broke halfway through, or you had to fence with a different weapon than you were used it and it through you off entirely, you’ve experienced this.

Beilock, S. L., & Carr, T. H. (2001). On the fragility of skilled performance: What governs choking under pressure? Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 130(4), 701–725. https://doi.org/10.1037/0096-3445.130.4.701

Eysenck, M. W., & Calvo, M. G. (1992). Anxiety and Performance: The Processing Efficiency Theory. Cognition and Emotion, 6, 409-434. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02699939208409696

Eysenck MW, Derakshan N, Santos R, Calvo MG. Anxiety and cognitive performance: attentional control theory. Emotion. 2007 May;7(2):336-53. doi: 10.1037/1528-3542.7.2.336. PMID: 17516812.

HEMA Hot Take

Understanding these mechanisms can help us prevent them. But first, let’s look at some infamous moments of choking in sports history.

• Phil Mickelson, 2006 US Open – In the lead by two, on the 18th hole of the U.S. Open Phil managed to hit a hospitality tent, a tree, and a bunker to finish with a double bogey and the misfortune of being labeled one of the biggest ‘chokers’ in golf history.

• Simone Biles, 2020 Olympics – The G.O.A.T. gymnastics legend famously withdrew from multiple events at the 2020 Tokyo oympics due to experiencing the “twisties,” a dangerous disconnect between mind and body under extreme pressure. This occurs to gymnasts specifically in high-stakes competition. After working with a sports psychologist and continuing to train she later came back to dominate at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

• Mikaela Shiffrin, 2022 Olympics – The dominant skier expected to medal failed to even complete three of her events, later discussing how overwhelming expectations played a role in her performance.

Pressure impacts even the best. In some ways, that’s what makes it so exciting to watch elite fencers in competition. When will an upset happen? Will a great fencer today choke, only to be beaten by a relative rookie? Or do the elite have what it takes to stay calm and focused when things heat up?

Coach’s Corner

Strategies to Mitigate Choking

Instead of hoping pressure won’t get to you, train to handle it. Assume that eventually you WILL feel choke in competition, unless you practice how to prepare for those high-stakes situations.

We spend a lot of time in my CORE sports performance program discussing anxiety, focus, and mental preparation for competition. Every athlete is different and the tools that will work best for you are unique to your personality and fencing style. Together we work on identifying strategies that be effective for you and then practicing them until they are ingrained.

Here are a few well-known strategies to stop choke before it starts:

1. Adopting a Pre-Performance Routine
   Consistent pre-performance routines (breathing exercises, specific physical movements, or self-talk) help athletes maintain composure and focus. Instead of standing around and talking to your friends, develop and execute a specific strategy for warming up and getting in the zone when its time to compete.

2. Reframe Pressure as Excitement
   If you find anxiety sneaking in, choose a reframe. Positive excitement and negative anxiety are surprisingly similar bodily processes. Instead of seeing nerves as a sign of fear, tell yourself, “I’m excited.” Research suggests this shift helps performers stay in the optimal arousal zone going into competition (Brooks, 2014).

3. Simulate Pressure in Training
   The best way to get better at handling stress is to practice under similar conditions. Try:

   • Sparring while teammates or coaches serve as judges. Have them be especially brutal, strict, or blind for an added anxiety bonus.

   • Setting up “must-win” scenarios. Use sparring games that have mini ‘stakes’ such as sudden-death rulesets or 15 burpees for the loser.

   • Using time constraints or added distractions. Sprint a lap before you start (so you start out of breath), use noise distractions or come up with other clever ways to make fencers feel ‘off’.

4. Develop Mental Resilience with Imagery
   Visualizing yourself performing well under pressure strengthens neural pathways, helping to solidify automatic responses. Spend 5 minutes a day visualizing you fencing well tackling each anticipated difficult match in your upcoming competition, including how you’ll feel gearing up, walking into the ring, and through each difficult point.

5. Master Self-Talk and Focus on Process Over Outcome
   Studies show that athletes who use instructional or motivational self-talk perform better under stress. Instead of thinking, “I have to win,” shift to “What’s my next action?” or “That was a great effort on my part.” Be your own cheerleader and coach mentally - especially important when you don’t have someone in your corner.

Health & Fitness Tips

Workout Your Body to Workout Your Mind
Exercise isn’t just for better physical resilience - it improves your mental resilience too. Part of what makes competition difficult is that it differs significantly from what you put your body through on a day-to-day basis. We don’t want to fight like we’re competing every day (this would be a significant strain on your body), but we can help prepare ourselves in other ways when we exercise.

Here are three types of physical training that also benefit your mental well-being in the ring:

• High-intensity interval training (HIIT) improves stress tolerance by training your body to perform under fatigue. This is incredibly important not just for physical injury prevention but mental resilience as well. Get used to the discomfort that comes with giving 100% and you’ve already won part of the battle.

• Breath control exercises (like box breathing) help regulate your nervous system and reduce anxiety, allowing you to shift away from sympathetic system overdrive to parasympathetic control and relaxation. Master breath control and you can last longer and think clearer.

• Strength training builds confidence and facilitates focus during physical tasks by reinforcing feelings of control over your body. It reminds you that you have mastery of your physical actions - as long as you can keep your cool.

Conditioning Move of the Week

Camel Stretch

This move is an excellent quad and hip flexor stretch, making it especially beneficial for fencers. Camel stretch also helps with relaxing the abdominal muscles, spinal mobility, breath control, and stress relief - a great choice for cooling down after events and recovery workouts.

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