Daniel ScottJanuary 11th, 2010

Although they could be confused with driving an automobile with standard transmission, today the terms “Clutch” and “Choke” are commonly used in reference to sports; however, the phenomena they represent can be applied to anyone in almost any context.

The Terminology

Wikipedia defines “choke” as a failure to perform due to anxiety. This is a form of panic attack in which the person may literally experience breathing difficulty or otherwise lose physical composure. Successful champions do not choke but are “clutch” players — rising to the occasion under pressure rather than collapsing.

“Clutch” therefore refers to a competent and/or superior play during high pressure situations. Most often it is a successful action taken under high pressure during a game usually at the end that may result in a significant change on the game’s result.

Lawyers, doctors, police — anyone has the capacity to choke under pressure. In Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) we prefer to focus on modeling behavioral excellence, and in this case we want to modify the behavior of choking to be more clutch. To start any good NLPer will begin with the simple question: How do you do that?

Degrees of Competence

Unconsciously Incompetent: This refers to a situation when you do not know that you can’t do something. An example is someone who has never even thought about speaking on stage — never having tried it, or even considered it, a person doesn’t know they can’t do it.

Consciously Incompetent: When someone tries something and learns they are unable to do it easily and effortlessly, then they become aware that they can’t do it. This is referred to being consciously aware of their inability, and to overcome this it’s simply a matter of learning and practicing.

Consciously Competent: During the process of learning a new behavior we practice and try different things (ways of doing it, ways of thinking about it, etc.). We have to consciously think of each step as we do it; it doesn’t yet flow naturally as we go through each part of the new behavior.

Unconsciously Competent: When a person can finally do a behavior without thinking about it they have become unconsciously competent at it. This means that they allow their unconscious mind to naturally take control of the process that generates the final behavior.

How to Clutch It Up Under Pressure

Scientists have studied the phenomenon of “choking” phenomenon and found it’s directly related to how the brain learns new information. When you’re first learning a skill, you learn the technique of what you’re attempting to do in a methodical, mechanical way … often in a sequential, step-by-step manner. This is what develops the skill level of conscious competence; however, the issue remains that you must consciously focus on doing the skill in order to be able to do it.

Thinking about what you’re doing requires you to utilize the full capacity of the conscious mind. In NLP we know the study by Miller and Galanter back in the 1900’s proved the capacity of the conscious mind is 7, plus or minus 2, pieces of information/steps. As you learn to follow the steps over and over (creating a pattern) it will eventually become a single, fluid behavior … done without thought. At this point you take those 7, +/- 2, steps and combine them into 1 single step.

In order to “choke” under pressure it’s simply the sudden awareness that you have to get it right or there will be negative consequences. The fear of those consequences create a sudden desire to do everything you possibly can to ensure success — which cause the brain to revert back to the technical, deliberate, awkward movements it took to learn the behavior.

Suddenly, you’re thinking through the task as a step-by-step procedure instead of just doing them in one smooth, fluid motion. With the knowledge that the conscious mind only has room for about 7 steps at a time, it means that to do the entire process requires you to do 7 steps, clear your mind and think of the next 7, then do those steps, and repeat the process of clearing and loading sets of 7, +/- 2, steps into your conscious awareness until you complete the entire behavioral pattern.

In other words, your desire to take back conscious control in order to have the power to do everything possible in order to succeed is what leads to predictable failure. In order to avoid choking, like champion athletes, you must create an extra behavior apart and separate from the skill you’re learning. That behavior must involve state management whereby you maintain a useful state that includes a sense of trust in your unconscious skills and abilities — not unlike visualization techniques that Olympic athletes do just before an event.

Related posts:

1. The Secret Mapping Skills of Mr. Miyagi The Karate Kid has been remade for the new generation...
2. Spelling Made Easy With NLP This article was originally written by Faith Wood and posted...
3. Learn NLP – Being an Empowering Leader This article was originally written by Stuart Tan and posted...
4. Everyone’s Talking NLP – So What is it All About? This article was originally written by Kathy Munslow and posted...
5. The Secret of Using Pain and Pleasure for Motivation The founder of Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP), Richard Bandler, once...

• Articles