Feb 26, 2006 – Dr. J: GREAT Job on Good Morning America! I got up early to watch and you did a fine segment on choking in sports. They should have had you on longer than the other people as you were more interesting. “As a tennis journalist and life-long observer of the sport, Dr. John F. Murray is the Roger Federer of Sport Psychologists: he has all the right answers and the ability to summon them at the right time” –Richard Pagliaro, Tennis Week
ABC Good Morning America – Television – What Causes Elite Athletes to Choke? Some Top Sports Stars Just Can’t Seal the Deal – Friday night, Sasha Cohen was majestic in a no-pressure exhibition, but the picture the world will remember is her falling with the gold medal on the line.
Also see: Tennis Week Magazine on Dr. Murray’s Selection to Marquis Who’s Who in America 2006
With Cohen it has happened so many times before.
“How she could not know what she’s facing and that everyone’s saying, ‘She choked every single time. Will she choke again?'” said USA Today sports columnist, Christine Brennan.
Mind Games?
Cohen is in elite company. Michelle Kwan dominated figure skating for a decade with five world championships and nine national titles, but no Olympic Gold.
“When the athletes come to the Olympic Games, it is rarely about the muscles anymore,” Brennan said. “It is all about the muscles between the ears.”
If anyone knows how Sasha Cohen feels, it is the Buffalo Bills. In the 1990s they went to the Super Bowl four times and lost each time. Scott Norwood’s 1991 failed field goal kick will forever be synonymous with “wide right.”
“Typically the athlete will think too much about the implications of performance and what it means,” said sports psychologist, Dr. John Murray. “They tend to think too much. And the word choking reflects that, the idea of choking on thoughts.”
Scott Hoch was consistently ranked among the top professional golfers. But he never captured a major championship. His closest call came at the 1989 Master’s: He came within inches of victory, but missed. He has forever been known as “Hoch the choke.”
Silver medalist Cohen says you can’t try to please the world â€? just yourself.
“I don’t need to be validated by scores or marks or whatever,” she said. “I know that when I skate, when I skate my very best, I am very happy.”
But there is hope for the bastion of bridesmaids. Look no further than speed skater Dan Jansen, who battled falls and personal tragedy starting in 1984� three Olympics with no Gold. He finally won in 1994.
Dr. John F. Murray is a sports psychologist and clinical psychologist providing sports psychology and counseling services based in Palm Beach, Florida.