It was an important match. I knew that if we won we would secure promotion to the premiership, but I simply could not pass, kick, or catch the ball as well as I had all season. I was so tight it was unbelievable. In the last minute we made a breakaway. I had two on one with the defender, and we needed the try, but I passed the ball forward and made a stupid mistake. I couldn’t believe I had let my teammates down, but quite simply, I bottled it.
Lee, semiprofessional player
Choking in rugby occurs when you perform worse than you expect in relation to your skill level during an important match in which you experience pressure to perform. The desire to perform at your best in important matches (e.g., to win the cup, to avoid relegation, or to play well in front of selectors) causes performance pressure (Baumeister, 1984). The famous psychologist Sigmund Freud stated, “Many acts are most successfully carried out when they are not the object of particularly concentrated attention. . . . Mistakes may occur just on (those) occasions when one is most eager to be accurate” (1922, p. 23). In this quotation Freud is referring to the ease in which you may perform certain skills when there is no pressure or real concern about the outcome, such as in practice, and to the difficulty of performing the same skills when you particularly want to be successful, such as during an important match.
Choking generally occurs over a short time, such as from missing a kick at goal to missing several kicks at goal in an entire match. As such, choking has a clear beginning and end that you can easily distinguish (Beilock & Gray, 2007).
Callard the PLAYER
Every player dreads this happening and has no account of how or why it has happened. One minute you are standing over the ball thinking that you are one sweet swing from scoring the winning points, and the next you are wondering why you have snapped at it and sent it spiralling wide into the stand. Only with time will you get used to this and be in control of the situation.
Nideffer (1992) suggested that a range of physical and psychological feelings are associated with choking, as outlined in table 8.1.
There is no definitive answer to why we choke under pressure, but psychologists have proposed two theories to explain the phenomenon, which are referred to as (1) the distraction hypothesis and (2) the explicit monitoring hypothesis.
1. Distraction hypothesis. The distraction hypothesis suggests that when you play in a high-pressure match you might experience worry. Your worry can distract you, which results in your being less focused on the task of taking a lineout throw, taking a goal kick, or making an important pass (Beilock & Gray, 2007). Consequently, your performance deteriorates.
2. Explicit monitoring hypothesis. The explicit monitoring hypothesis suggests that pressure causes you to (a) think about the movements that you make such as your leg action in a kick and (b) attempt to control the movements that you are making. Under normal circumstances you would not think about the movement in a kick nor attempt to control your movements, because you would perform the kick or other skill subconsciously (Baumeister, 1984). This monitoring and attempting to control movements disrupts the execution of the skill, which causes reduced performance (Beilock & Carr, 2001).
TASK Identifying Your Choking Experiences
To prevent choking from occurring, you need to recognise instances in rugby when you have choked (see table 8.2 for an example). Complete table 8.3 for a match in which you performed worse that you should have. Choking under pressure can be unpleasant, but you need to confront your choking experiences so that you can recognise the signs if you start underperforming in the future.
Callard the PLAYER
A slight crosswind was blowing from left to right, but it was not enough to affect the flight of the ball and the kick at goal. My mental state, however, was not correct. I approached the ball off a shortened run up and stabbed the ball wide. I had actually strangled myself in the lead up to the kick by not giving it the respect it deserved. The team entrusted me with these duties, and I did not duly oblige. The incident taught me the valuable lesson that choking was just as likely to occur in a simple kick as it was in a difficult kick. I prepared fully every time after that. I applied a full preskill routine to every kick; no matter where it was on the field, it got my full attention.
Choking or performing poorly under pressure can happen to all of us, and it is not something to fear. In fact, choking under pressure is inevitable; all of us are likely to choke at some point in the future. Therefore, you should employ a number of strategies to recognise it and limit the effect that it has on your performance. Jordett (2010) identified a range of strategies, which are outlined in the following sections.
A preskill routine is often referred to a preperformance routine, but this term implies that the routine is carried out before the performance commences, such as in the changing room or on the coach to a match. We prefer to use the term preskill routine. A preskill routine refers to the sequence of thoughts (e.g., directing your focus to a target or blocking out any negative thoughts) and behaviours (e.g., staring at a target for a specific time or standing in particular position before taking a kick) that you use before performing a skill such as a kick, a catch from a restart, or a lineout throw. Recent research has found that developing and using a preskill routine can prevent you from choking (Mesagno, Marchant, & Morris, 2008). A preskill routine can prevent choking because it stops you from monitoring your movements when performing a specific skill.
Research with basketball players from North America’s National Basketball Association revealed that players were more successful in free-throw shooting when they followed their dominant preskill routine (Lonsdale & Tam, 2008). Because of the large positional variation in rugby and the different roles that each position is expected to perform, you should develop your own performance-specific preskill routine. You can do this by following the five steps outlined here.
Step 1 The first step in developing your preskill routine is to think about the skills crucial to your position in which you could use a preskill routine. These skills could include
• kicking the ball,
• lineout throwing,
• lineout jumping,
• catching a ball from the restart, and
• scrummaging.
If you perform any of these skills in rugby, then developing your own preskill routine could benefit you.
Step 2 After you have identified the skills crucial to your position, watch a player who plays in your position to see what he or she does. Your model could be an international player, professional club player, or amateur player. Closely examine the various behaviours that the player goes through on a consistent basis and note them in the table provided. Table 8.4 is an example of an international fly-half’s preskill routine for goal-kicking attempts.
Depending on the skill relevant to your position, the player whom you chose to look at might not have as many behaviours in his or her preskill routine as the player in the example does. Preskill routines with fewer behaviours are not necessarily better or worse than preskill routines with more behaviours. The crucial element to a preshot routine in terms of preventing choking under pressure is consistency. Alternatively, the player whom you chose to look at may have more behaviours in his or her preskill routine. Watch a player who performs the skills a few times before writing down the behaviours included in his or her preskill routine in table 8.5.
In observing the preskill routine of a player you will realise that you can grasp only the behaviours of a routine, not the player’s thoughts. Nevertheless, this chapter provides you with ideas on the thoughts that you could engage in during your preskill routine.
Step 3 You can create your own preskill routine by completing the preskill list. In this list you identify the point at which your routine will commence and then describe the sequence of behaviours and thoughts that you will engage in before completing the skill. An example of a complete preskill routine is presented in figure 8.1 on page 105. Remember that your routine is based on the order of behaviours that you listed in step 2 of this process.
You do not have to follow the same order as the person whom you observed because you might prefer to make your routine slightly different, which is fine. From the example in figure 8.1 you will see that we have included a variety of mental skills that you can use in you preskill routine such as mental imagery, thought stopping, or positive self-talk. All these skills are outlined in this book. Complete your own preskill routine diagram by completing figure 8.2 on page 106.
Step 4 After you have developed your preskill diagram, memorise the sequence of events that you listed. Then practice your preskill routine in a training session to see whether you think it will be feasible for matches. You should be able to use your preskill routine with ease and complete it with little if any thought. The routine should not distract you from performing the actual skill. When you first try your preskill routine you may become slightly distracted, which is normal, but this disruption should pass after several attempts.
Step 5 Step 5 is the most important step. You must use your preskill routine every time you perform the skill, whether in training or during matches. The more consistently you perform your preskill routine, the better your performance of the skill will be. You will also be less susceptible to choking under pressure.
Callard the COACH
As a coach you can help prevent choking from occurring by offering practices and sharing processes of the kick or throw with the player to help him or her develop a routine. The player should lead this exercise and not feel as if he or she is being subjected to another external pressure. Question the player and gather the responses to identify the critical triggers. In time the player will be self-reliant but initially will need guidance through the process of developing a routine.
For some rugby players, the pressure to perform in certain matches may be a complete shock to the system and a cause of choking. Therefore, another way to alleviate choking is to ensure that anxiety is present when you train so that when you experience anxiety in matches you will be able to perform with this emotion present. You can create feelings of anxiety during training in several ways:
1. Adopt a mind-set that each training session is as important as matches that you will play. Although making a mistake in a training session is probably not going to be scrutinised in the same way that making a mistake in a match would be, you can increase your anxiety before training by thinking about the consequences of a poor performance. Two consequences of training poorly could be losing your place in the team or having teammates develop a negative opinion of your skills. View everything that happens within a training session as being important.
2. Play games with yourself by setting targets. If you are practising a particular skill within training such as kicking or taking high catches, set a target of achieving a number of successful attempts before completing your training session. For example, if you are practising taking high catches, you might set yourself a target of taking 50 high catches in a row before ending your training session. Therefore, if you get to 49 high catches and drop the ball on the 50th attempt, you start again from zero. By the time you reach 40 successful catches in a row, you may experience some anxiety knowing that you will have to start again if you drop a catch.
3. Anxiety also has a physiological component, as outlined in chapter 5. Remember that anxiety is a stress emotion. The physical feelings of anxiety include an increased heart rate, muscle tension, some breathlessness, and increased blood pressure, to mention a few. These symptoms can be re-created by physical exertion. Therefore, if you are a lineout thrower you could physically exert yourself by performing some sprints and then immediately taking a lineout throw. By doing this you would be re-creating the instances in which you would be performing lineout throws in matches. Generally, you perform all skills in match settings under some physical duress, unless a particular skill such as a kick, scrum, or lineout throw is performed in the first minute of a match. Therefore, performing skills after some physical exertion has the benefit of re-creating some of the physical feelings associated with anxiety and making practice more closely simulate matches.
Increasing your anxiety during training will allow you to get used to playing well whilst experiencing anxiety. When you feel anxiety in training sessions, practice the coping skills and preskill routines that you would use in a match.
Besides re-creating the feelings of anxiety associated with performing under pressure, athletes can mimic in training sessions the physical processes that occur during choking. Drawing from the explicit monitoring hypothesis, Beilock and Carr (2001) suggested that you can focus on movements whilst performing skills such as your leg action during kicking, your arm movement during a lineout throw, or your hand position when catching a ball in a lineout. By doing this you become more used to performing the skill when self-conscious, so that if this happens during high-pressure situations you will not choke.
When players make mistakes they can be hard on themselves, a reaction often seen in rugby players when they drop a catch or miss a tackle. Some continue berating themselves for minutes, hours, or even days after the incident occurred. Leary (2004) suggested that you should accept that you are not perfect and that making mistakes in matches and losing are inevitable consequences of playing rugby. This idea is evident in the following quotation from a British and Irish Lions rugby union player:
If you did not prepare yourself properly be angry at yourself. You may feel anger at other people when they make mistakes, but as soon as that comes in you think, Whoa, people in glass houses. You have got to account for 100 events in any rugby match, so at least 5 or 6 are going to go badly.
This quotation shows that the player has accepted that mistakes will happen. You must recognise that you will make mistakes, and when you do, you must forgive yourself. After you have made the mistake, focus on what you are going to do next, not the mistake itself. Besides being compassionate toward yourself, accept that everyone experiences negative emotions such as anxiety. After you learn to accept any negative emotions, your attention will not be diverted from the task that you are trying to complete (Jordett, 2010).
• Choking in rugby occurs when you perform much worse than you would expect to in relation to your skill level during an important match.
• Choking is something that generally occurs over a short time.
• Psychologists have proposed two theories to explain why we choke, which are referred to as (1) the distraction hypothesis and (2) the explicit monitoring hypothesis.
• Developing a preskill routine can prevent choking by ensuring that you direct your attention toward relevant things.
• Get used to anxiety in training so that you are not shocked when you experience this emotion during matches.
• Monitoring your movements whilst performing specific actions gets you used to performing skills self-consciously, so that if you tend to do this in a match you will not choke under pressure.
• Accept that you are going to make mistakes and be prepared to forgive yourself.
