Choke (sports)

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In sports, choking is the failure of a person, or persons, to act or behave as anticipated or expected.^[1] This can occur in a game or tournament that they are strongly favoured to win, or in an instance where they have a large lead that they squander in the late stages of the event. It can also refer to repeated failures in the same event, or simply imply an unexpected failure when the event is more important than usual.

Most athletes experience physical and mental changes during stages of increased tension in competition. They may change their strategy as a coping mechanism, and play more cautiously as a result.^[2] In instances where this strategy fails, a player or team many lose confidence to the point of panic, where they are incapable of completing the most rudimentary of tasks.^[3][4] Choking in sport can be considered a form of analysis paralysis.^[5]

The term itself is often an over-used, or even derisive term in the sports world, where "choke" status might be assigned to a team or player that was simply unlucky. A double standard also exists where the choke status is not assigned to players or teams that perform poorly under pressure but are somehow still able to win, but the choke could be assigned to players or teams that perform well under pressure but still lose. The term "clutch" is used to describe the opposite of choking.^[6]