Ok, ok, so no one wants to hear about choking while competing, or while preparing to compete. The fact is, if you have competed successfully at anything, you have choked, or are in denial about it!

There are countless stories about champions who have persevered despite choking multiple times before breaking out to larger successes. To be in a position to choke means you have achieved great skill and have put yourself in a position to win. Congratulations. Not many can say they have even put themselves in a position where choking is a possibility!

Well, now that we have ascertained that everyone chokes, what the heck should a person do about it when in faced with the situation? I have a couple of thoughts. One is to replace the fear of success with another emotion. Anger does it for me, but others may replace the fear with a cavalier attitude, or perhaps fall into a thoughtless state. What is clear is that you must push the fear out of the performance of the shot.

Putting yourself in a position to win is extraordinary and will allow you to work on the mental skills necessary to push to a higher level of success.

I’ll end with a personal example of a recent less than optimal outcome. In this years Outdoor Nationals, I was in a position to take bronze. I started with a 9,10,9. I knew my competitor was watching and feeling the heat. What happened next was unexpected. I shot a 6. I don’t know why and I’m not sure what was going through my head, if anything. I followed with a 9 and needed one more solid shot to get on the podium. I shot a 6. I flinched slightly thinking my clicker had gone off. It didn’t. I was lucky to hit the bale.

I am fortunate to have had lots of success shooting, but choking is part of competing. One thing I can say is, the more you put yourself in the position to win, the more opportunities you will have to work on your mental game, which is where the rubber meets the road for  top level athletes.