What is the real reason athletes choke?

Choking in sports, why?

What is the real reason athletes choke? Choking is when an athlete can’t properly manage the info/stimuli that they capture/process during a moment in competition. We’ve all experienced it. It happens at all levels of competition. Kids “choke” in Little League when a moment overwhelms them. They fear of failure, or the crowd gets noisy, umpire made a bad call, already struck out 2 times, thinking of mechanics, etc.

Breaking down choking and why some athletes execute better in the critical moments in competition.

Have you ever stood over a 3 foot putt and were not confident? But earlier in the round a similar putt seemed easy. Or you made a were easily making your free throws but later in the game you lost your confidence. Why athletes choke and focus are intertwined. Great focus doesn’t allow distractions or irrelevant stimuli to be captured and processed. Great focus is experienced when an athlete just sees and reacts. They ‘see’ the most essential info necessary to execute a successful movement. Poor focus allows you an athlete to process irrelevant stimuli, extra stimuli that DILUTES the quality of the necessary stimuli. It takes extra time to process that extra stimuli and be games becomes faster, not slower.

Being ‘In the Zone’ & how to get there more often.

Whenever I ask an athlete, at any level of play, what they are thinking when they are performing well, they all say something to the effect of, “nothing, I just see & react”. Athletes that perform consistently in critical situations like Kobe, Tiger, Jeter, or Tom Brady do so because they have learned to ignore distractions. They capture the ‘filet mignon’ of info/stimuli needed to make a successful play. They are able to do it over and over and over again. Our brain is naturally lazy and don’t like to focus for long or very intensely. How can we get ‘in the zone’ more often and stay there? Read on.

Train your brain to MAKE it focus better and work more efficiently with Strobe Sport training glasses.

When wearing the Strobe Sport glasses and have them flashing or strobing MAKES the brain/eyes have to capture info/stimuli faster when the lenses are clear before it goes opaque. The strobing puts resistance on the brain, like lifting weights. If you want to run fast you need to sprint. You need to strengthen your legs. You need to have good form and be more efficient. The same applies to your brain. When you brain processes info faster it allows the body to move sooner and improves reaction time. The brain must also be more picky about the info/stimuli it captures when the lenses are clear. The brain learns to ignore irrelevant info and therefore your focus improves. Read studies here https://strobesport.com/studies/.

Challenge your brain through your eyes.

Now you know what is the real reason athletes choke. When the brain is challenged it will find a way to succeed. The more you use your Strobe Sport glasses in your drills the more the brain is put into a difficult environment. The brain learns to effectively manage those difficult situations and those situations become easier. I call it training ‘in the chaos’. After doing your drills in a little as 5-10 minutes and taking off the glasses you will see things are slower (because your brain is processing faster), objects seem clearer (because you are ignoring irrelevant info/stimuli) and your performance anxiety is reduced. Performance anxiety is what causes choking. Reducing or better management of anxiety inducing info/stimuli allows you to avoid choking.

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