Wonder why you see so many professional kickers miss easy field goals? Their brains may be to blame: Thinking too hard could cause you to choke under pressure, says new research from the University of California, Santa Barbara.
The study found that your explicit memory, or step-by-step thought process, can muddle your implicit memory (your tool for remembering how to do things automatically) and negatively affect performance. For example, if you try to remember all the steps to riding a bike while pedaling, you’ll quickly be in the bushes. But hop on and start cycling without a second thought, and you’ll coast away easily.
So when athletes find themselves in high-pressure situations—like taking the lead in a tied football game—they’re more likely to let their explicit memory interfere and screw up their performance, even though they’ve aced the same feat in the past.
You can fall victim to this thinking trap, too. The fix: Next time you’re in a tight spot and everyone is watching—say, you need to deliver a winning business pitch in front of a team of investors—relax and remember how you’ve kicked butt before. Look back on past successes and figure out why they went right. It will give you confidence and remind you that, yes, you once nailed it and can do it again. Here are more proven ways to succeed under pressure.
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