Isn’t it amazing how often we get caught in thinking about the wrong thing? We want to do well on a final exam, but can’t help but think about how disappointed our parents will be if we fail. Or when we go into an interview with the intention of engaging with the interviewer, but we can’t help but notice the massive piece of spinach in the bottom row of their teeth.

In times of pressure, our brains and evidently our bodies become limited. Pressure disrupts your performance system. If your heart rate rises, your thinking becomes rigid and distorted. Or if you perceive a moment to be important and that your survival depends on the outcome, you are more likely to experience fear and anxiety arousal. The end result is the same. You lose control of your ability to execute your behaviours you want to perform.

The most common cause of performance system disruptions and choking is that your memory systems malfunction. Causing you to forget something or prevent you from focusing on the things that matter most.

The Two Memory Systems

Our brains have two memory systems, the Working Memory Capacity (WM) and Procedural Memory (PM).

Working Memory (WM): Think of this part as the brain’s CEO. It helps to perform tasks that involve judgment, analyzing data, recalling info, and decision making. When test day comes and you need to recall all of the stuff you memorized, it’s ready to go. However, working memory capacity is limited and can only hold so much information at any given moment. The more space you have, the more memory capacity you have. So, when WMC is disturbed, so is your performance. Especially if the task you are performing is dependent on deliberate thinking, such as solving a difficult math problem, writing, or remembering data. (located in the prefrontal cortex)

Procedural Memory (PM): Think of this as your storage drive. It’s the place you’d store how you perform certain tasks that you have already mastered, such as a tennis swing, driving, or a well-rehearsed presentation. In pressure moments, your procedural memory helps you perform these tasks automatically and effortlessly. These are responsible for lightning fast motor activation which is needed for complex actions. (located in the cerebellum)

These two memory systems work together over the course of learning something new. During the initial learning phase of a skill, we are using WM. Over time with more practice, the complexities become natural and automatic, the memory of the task is transferred over to the cerebellum. It’s now part of the PM. This is why you can do certain tasks on autopilot.

How Working Memory causes choking:

Example – when making a presentation to your classmates

You need to explain a complex solution to a complex problem
Halfway through you begin to wonder if anyone is even listening
this begins to preoccupy your mind
then you blank on a crucial point in your presentation
Thinking about what other people think takes up valuable space on your mental disk drive where you needed to store crucial information
These thoughts take over and delete space to make themselves heard

How Procedural Memory causes choking:

Shooting a free throw is guided by your PM
When we consciously try to do something we would normally be doing unconsciously, we screw up and choke
One little thing can throw off the PM in a pressure moment if we start consciously focusing on the automatics
We try to practice it, instead of just doing it

To prevent these types of choking your need to learn two things:

Prevent worries or concerns generated by fear and anxiety that enter your Working Memory
Learn how to prevent yourself from getting in your own way. Mentally intruding when Procedural Memory knows what to do

And so, here is the million-dollar question: how can we control our thinking with thinking about what we’re thinking about???

Well, one strategy that all athletes can test out is to create something called a “Good Game Checklist”. This is essentially a list of important and valuable things that you as an athlete predetermine as significant and essential for having a good performance.

Why is this helpful?

Under the pressure of the spotlight, athletes – and all humans – have a tendency to overthink. We worry about how many points we’ve scored, who’s watching in the stands, where our team is ranked, and how this game might affect our college prospects. In the moment it’s hard to ignore the importance and value of these little inner thoughts. But at the same time, you have to ask yourself an even more important question: Do they matter RIGHT NOW? And is my thinking about them, essential to my performance?

The answer? No. A big fat NO!

As we now understand, when you begin to fill your brain’s Working Memory Capacity with the little tiny thoughts that do not help performance, you take away from your ability to think about the stuff that does matter. And as much as we think the accolades, the points, and the final result are what we care about. Deep down, we all know there are other qualities in how we play that matter more.

When I was playing, I remember my parents would always say to me things like, “have fun out there” or “just enjoy yourself”. And at the time I would only ever half listen. But looking back now, that was some of the best advice I could have heard. In fact, it was all I really should have thought about under times of pressure. If you are out on the court and simply enjoying yourself and having fun, how can you really be worried about missing your next shot or overthinking the end results? You can’t!

Creating Your Good Game Checklist

So, here is what you need to do in order to make your own Good Game Checklist:

Go grab yourself a piece of paper or a notebook or just use your phone
Take a few minutes to describe the best or most memorable performance you’ve had in the past year
How were you thinking? What were you focused on? What made that performance so much better than all the rest?
Make a short list of 5-6 values/qualities/focal points/traits that you believe led to a memorable performance
Before your next match review this list and keep it in your mind throughout the game

Let’s say you’re a hockey player, here is an example of what your list might consist of:

Patient with the puck
Creativity with movement
Aggressive on D
Meaningful communication
Encourager
Disciplined focus
Enjoy the game
Curiosity under pressure

What happens when you employ this type of checklist is that you no longer have to rely on unnecessary thoughts to determine whether or not you will perform at a higher level. Instead, you will have a list of important qualities that you have predetermined as both helpful and valuable for creating a good performance.

Will it work every time? No, probably not. But I think it’s a start. And I believe that quote below from The Checklist Manifesto really summarizes things nicely:

“Good checklists, on the other hand are precise. They are efficient, to the point, and easy to use even in the most difficult situations. They do not try to spell out everything–a checklist cannot fly a plane. Instead, they provide reminders of only the most critical and important steps–the ones that even the highly skilled professional using them could miss. Good checklists are, above all, practical.”

The point of a Good Game Checklist is not to put everything on autopilot so you can just check out or place your attention elsewhere. It’s there to guide you through the essentials. To remind you of what needs to be focused on and accomplished if you want to have a consistent performance. It exists to fill your Working Memory with the good stuff and keep out the random mental clutter that has no practical use.

Leave the overthinking and overanalyzing for after the competition. Let the performance be about one thing: Playing and competing in a way that you know you will be proud of when the fans go home.

-Derek