Why Athletes Choke in the Big Games? :: essays research papers

All sports fans have heard athletes acknowledge that they choked or just couldnt attain the big game. The issue that will be addressed in this paper deals with the outcome of gaudy events and why athletes continue to choke during and at the end of extremely crucial competitions. Baumeister (1992) found that the choking reflex basis be attributed to psychoneuromuscular influences(p.3). My interest in the subject comes from being a big sports fan and a designer athlete. And also from hearing people make comments such as, Scott Norwood and the entire overawe Bills football team are chokers. They cant even win one Super Bowl in four tries. Barry Bonds cant get one hit in the playoffs and thinks hes the scoop up baseball player ever. At the end of this paper you will be able to see why coaches and players go through these rough situations and what they can do to prevent them from happening again. In golf, choking is known as the yips and is be as a psychoneuromuscular impedimen t of the execution of the simplest of tasks (Smith, 2000, p. 1). Adler (2003) defined the yips as a motor phenomenon of involuntary movements affecting golfers (p. 1). yip is believed to be acquired through the deterioration of motor pathways via the basal ganglia. In whatsoever players it pull up stakess from severe performance anxiety. This means that when a high level of evince and physiological arousal is present the yips start to show up. canonical patterns of the yips include sweaty palms, uncontrollable jerks, and anxiety. These symptoms continue to repeat themselves until the person that is change learns to deal with these situations. These problems can influence quality of performance and even result in decreased playing time. Yips can also touch to the use of both alcohol and drugs as a coping adjacent. (Adler, Crews, Wharen, & Laskowski 2003). many another(prenominal) of the best golfers in the world have had to experience this including Ben Hogan. Hogan said, The difference surrounded by competitive golf and pleasure golf is like the difference amid ice hockey and tennis (Wertz, 86, p.