I 'think', therefore I 'choke' : evidence towards adaptive and maladaptive processing styles in determining sports performance
Year: 2012
Type: dissertation
Abstract: PREDICTING PERCEIVED CONTROLLABILITY -'B' on the other hand missed a medal by one tenth of a second.Experts then comment on Athlete B's performance explaining that he had clocked timings better than the one he did at the current event and that he consistently displayed this pattern.Athlete 'B' was hence labelled as the 'choker'.A real life example of Athlete 'B' can be examined in the case of Asafa Powell.Asafa Powell is a Jamaican sprinter who specialises in the 100 metres.He has held the world record for 100 metres and has several times broken the 10-second barrier, that is, ran under 10 seconds.However on the big occasions like the World championships and the Olympics he fails to convert his prior success repetitively.One such event that made him infamous for his 'choking' tendencies was at the 2007 World Athletics Championships in Osaka.He was competing against the rising American star, Tyson Gay, who had also held world records in the same event.The race began at the shot of the gun; Powell had a brilliant start which got him to the leading position until 70m into the race.The last 30m witnessed a change in positions, wherein Powell slipped from the first position and finished third while Tyson Gay took home the gold medal.When interviewed, Powell said that he felt Tyson Gay coming on his shoulder, which made him panic.He admitted to "giving up" halfway and just having stopped running as he watched Tyson Gay pass him.He also said "I really have a point to prove but it can become a mental problem if you think about it too much".Former American sprinter Michael Johnson critically commented on Powell's performance stating "You could see him thinking, I'm losing it, and he just gave up at that point".Thus, the question coaches, sport psychologists and journalists wonder about is why Asafa Powel would falter on big occasions like the Olympics or the World Championships.However, during smaller events not only would he win the events but would also dip way below ten seconds throughout the
Author: Sindhuja Sankaran
Language: English
Subfield: Developmental and Educational Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1574662700