TED Radio Hour Episode Part 1 Sports Psychology in Daily Life
Suffocating, smelling it, sizzling. For every great performance in the history of sports, there is an example of a skilled athlete buckling under pressure. And it’s not just sports: We can also freeze during speeches, important recitals, or large presentations. But what happens to our brains during those high-stakes moments?
Succeed when no one is watching
Sian Beilock, dean of Dartmouth College and a cognitive scientist who studies how we respond to stress, says: “I define choking as performing worse than you expected because of the situation and its consequences. .
As a graduate student, Belloc was involved in a study that invited college and professional golfers to a lab equipped with putting greens to subject them to varying levels of stress.
Belloc’s team observed that golfers who performed well in experiments often couldn’t remember the details of what they were doing at that moment in the game. They are on autopilot rather than focusing on the mechanics of the stroke.
Poor golfers, on the other hand, pay close attention to every step of their swing.
“Counterintuitively, one of the reasons people don’t perform well under pressure, especially in sports, is that they start focusing too much on their performance, when these things should be automatic,” Belloc said.
When too much attention backfires
In recent years, Beilock’s research team has studied this phenomenon of excessive focus, which they call “analysis paralysis.” In another study, they asked college football players to dribble while paying attention to which side of their foot made contact with the ball. This results in players performing slower and making more mistakes.
Hyperfocus can also occur in daily life, such as focusing too much on a single word when speaking, or watching your steps when walking down the stairs.
“A lot of it depends on the prefrontal cortex, the front part of the brain above our eyes that usually helps us focus in a positive way,” Belloc said in a 2017 TED talk. “It often does Falling in love with the wrong things… the end result is that we actually screw up.”
let your brain take over
Beilock has some simple tips for preventing excessive focus from hindering our performance potential.
First, practice is key.
Whether you’re preparing for a wedding toast or taking the SAT, Belloc recommends practicing under the conditions you’ll be performing. “You have to let yourself get a little nervous,” she said. “Even practicing in front of the mirror can build self-awareness so that when you step on the big stage or that big day, you’re ready to go.”
Second, choose a mantra to help you get through tough times.
To distract yourself and avoid overthinking, Belloc recommends choosing a song or keyword to focus on rather than obsessing over the details of what you’re doing (Billoc’s own soundtrack is take it easy by the Eagles).
Finally, Belloc recommends that we trust our brains to perform the things we train ourselves to do. According to her research, operating outside of conscious control often leads to the best results.
“The most exciting part of my job is showing that with practice, you can get better and learn how to behave and lead in different situations,” Belloc said. “I think the idea that you’re not born a choker or a thriver, everyone has to practice and that’s how you’re able to show what you know when it matters most gives me hope.”
This digital story was written by Chloe Weiner and edited by Rachel Faulkner White. The audio version was produced by Katie Monteleone and edited by Sanaz Meshkinpour. You can follow us on Facebook @TED airtimeand send us an email to TEDRadioHour@npr.org.
