The Superstars Of Sports Don't Choke - Here's Why

By Author: Ellen Huston
Total Articles: 7
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Since the beginning of recorded history, stress has been with man. Even the earliest caveman daily faced the stress of simply surviving every day life. From seeking shelter to escaping predators.

Perhaps, unsurprisingly, many of those same anxiety scenarios are with us today. Many of us have financial worries and bear the stress of finding a job. For those who have a job, there may be stress at the job. Maybe you have health problems and there is the anxiety of trying to overcome your illness. Or you may have a marriage that is so filled with stress that it is barely surviving. If you have kids, they could be facing the stress of dealing with bullies at school. Stress is all around us, and always has been. Those who survive are the ones who find productive ways of dealing with stress instead of capitulating to it.

Since, stress management experts realize that getting rid of stress is futile, their treatments revolve around managing stress. Why do some people absolutely thrive under stress while another person in the exact same situation will wilt under it? There are a few reasons, but one undeniable reason is that ...
... much of a person's response to anxiety is psychological in nature. In the first instance, the first person has learned to manage his anxiety to the point of turning it into an advantage. A stress management expert will help you to master the ability to take ownership and control over your anxiety.

Where does anxiety come from? There's more than one answer. Many times the cause is a traumatic, life altering event such as losing a parent, losing a child, or losing someone that you love. But, stress can also be the result of less dramatic life changing events such as moving to a new neighborhood, attending a new school, or starting a new place of work. But just about all forms of stress or anxiety come down to either loss of the familiar or anticipation of loss of the familiar.

In sports terminology, think of the term "choke." A team starts a season with zero wins. They win one, two, three, and eventually 12 games without a loss. Now they're expected to win. In fact a loss would mean that they've disappointed their families, coaches, and fans. Suddenly as they approach each game, it's with a feeling of "tightness", because now they HAVE to win. The next loss has not even happened and yet some of the team members are already feeling tightness. Since the loss hasn't happened yet, it can only be attributed to anticipation of what will happen if the team does lose. So, in many high profile, high stakes, games you'll see players dropping balls that they would normally catch with ease, missing goals that they would normally make in their sleep, and passing up shots that they would normally take. In other words, they're choking.

Superstars, on the other hand, have leaned to manage and focus their stress. They won't pass up a shot. They'll insist on taking the shot. They'll actually want the ball in crucial situations. They will love being in the spotlight in front of thousands, maybe millions of people. Same game, same situation, different player, different reactions.

The important thing to note is that this feeling of confidence or comfort is not related to skill level. Because, we all know people who have little or no talent in their field who are nevertheless filled with supreme confidence in their actions and abilities.
Ellen Huston is writer and researcher for http://www.superstressmanagement.com . To read other articles on reliability of cardiac stress tests as well as other stress related topics, please visit her website.