How to Avoid Choking

This blog post is Part 3 of a 4-part blog series featuring the work of University of Chicago psychologist Sian Beilock. In the previous two blog posts featuring the Sian Beilock interview on the website Brain Science Podcast, we’ve been talking about what choking is and the science behind the phenomena. At the University of Chicago’s Human Performance Lab, psychologist Sian Beilock, Ph.D., has studied how people can avoid choking and perform to their best ability in stressful situations. These tips work on your favorite playing field and in the boardroom at work. To perform well, our working memory needs to be functioning well. So this advice builds “your ability […]

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The Body Mechanics behind Choking

This blog post is Part 2 of a 4-part blog series featuring the work of University of Chicago psychologist Sian Beilock. Have you ever wondered why you choke sometimes even though you have executed the same athletic maneuver perfectly literally hundreds of times? You can find an answer to this question on a recent Brain Science Podcast. Ginger Campbell, MD, interviews University of Chicago psychologist Sian Beilock, PhD, author of the book Choke: What the Secrets of the Brain Reveal About Getting It Right When You Have To. Beilock notes that a stressful situation for one person is not trying for another person. All you need for a suboptimal performance […]

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Choking, Defined

This blog post is Part 1 of a 4-part blog series featuring the work of University of Chicago psychologist Sian Beilock. A recent podcast on the website Brain Science Podcast contains a wealth of information on the phenomena of choking while under pressure. Ginger Campbell, MD, interviews University of Chicago psychologist Sian Beilock, Ph.D., author of the book Choke: What the Secrets of the Brain Reveal About Getting It Right When You Have To. Beilock runs the University of Chicago’s Human Performance Lab, which she says allows her “to ask questions about how people get good at what they do.” She has studied the concept of choking, which she defines as […]

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Low Stress Levels Help Prevent Injuries

We all know the saying “an apple a day keeps the doctor away.” But have you heard “lowering stress levels keeps injuries at bay”? Of course this isn’t a commonly heard phrase. Still, three decades of research “shows that a combination of conditions puts athletes at a greater risk of injury: negative life stresses, an increase in daily hassles, previous injuries, and poor coping responses,” says The Sport Psych Handbook (edited by Shane Murphy). Stress, inadequate coping skills, and personality traits doesn’t just make for a bad mood; these factors create an elevated stress response. What does this mean for a player? Athletes who have elevated stress responses suffer from […]

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The Irony of Injury

Although elite skiers in the 1997 Urdry et al. study thought of season-ending injuries as stumbling blocks that involved depression and misery, approximately 95 percent of the participants also talked of positive results, including “personal growth, psychologically based performance enhancements, and physical-technical development.” Of course, this study (one of the few studies that examine the consequences of injuries on athletes, according to the book Psychological Bases of Sports Injuries) was conducted on average 2.7 years after the athletes suffered their injuries. It may take not only time to realize the benefits of injury, but the proper intervention as well. Runner and T.V. sportscaster Leslie Visser shattered leg bones, dislocated her […]

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Meeting the Mental Challenge

Elite athletes make winning and training look easy. Often we think these stars are born with supernatural ability, and we could never match their skills. While natural talent may play a role in an top tier athlete’s success, another ingredient plays a vital part, writes Gina Kolata in a New York Times article. “I was given a body that could train every single day,” said two-time New York Marathon winner Tom Fleming. “And a mind, a mentality, that believed that if I trained every day — and I could train every day — I’ll beat you.” Could you compete at the same level as Tom Fleming and other elite athletes? […]

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