There are many things in life that are taken very seriously, especially when it comes to sports. Many individuals watch sports for enjoyment and to show support to their team(s) or idol(s). Although the audience gets to enjoy the game/ event, the athlete is faced with many expectations from fans, coaches, teammates and especially themselves. During the match when the athlete is not doing well or the level of importance of the game is really high things can get very stressful and out of hand for both players and audience. Stress can make players as good as Messi to lose focus, get tense and choke when performing an activity. It is thought that once soccer players train they can block out choking; However, some of the best soccer players like Messi tend to experience choking at a certain point in their career depending the situation of what type of game it is and the importance of the game.
Choking issue in athletes
Choking is one of the biggest fears that athletes have, yet Choking by a player during a sport event is not something uncommon. We tend to see choking in almost every game especially in very important games. According to sports performance anxiety coach “ Choking happens when you get in your own way mentally or your mind prevents you from performing at your best.” Choking limits the athletes ability to perform at their fullest potential and can cause them to lose. Most athletes tend to experience changes in their body like rapid breathing, increased heart rate, tension, anxiety apprehension and confusion.
As we know Messi is one of the world’s greatest players that has ever lived. Lionel Messi started playing professional soccer representing barcelona as a forward since October 16 2004 when he was just 17 years old. Throughout his entire career Messi has scored 569 goals with Barcelona, 61 goals with Argentina, won 30 trophies with barcelona, a olympic gold medal with Argentina and 5 Ballon D’Ors when Messi was voted the best soccer player in the world. Messi has also scored 79 successful penalties and has only missed 24 penalties throughout his entire career. Even Though, Messi is the world greatest players he has experienced choking in some occasions.
One of the most memorable moments that Messi experienced choking was during the game Argentina vs Chile in the Copa America final. Argentina, Messi’s team, was up for penalty kicks. Messi was up to make the goal to get Argentina closer to winning; However, Messi missed the penalty kick when he kicked the ball way over to the right side of the goal posts because of being overly stressed out.
The best theory/ model that best describes what happened to Lionel Messi during this penalty kick is the Conscious processing hypothesis. This means that the person uses excessive thinking and doesn’t do anything. Conscious processing hypothesis is a mix of both Processing efficiency theory and Attentional control theory. Messi was focused on a main point, yet he was also focus on irrelevant things which caused paralysis by analysis. He was probably doubting himself or he was concentrating on the fans to much that he failed to score a penalty kick which would be no problem to do on a regular basis with little to no thought.
According to innovate us “Athletes should accept the fact that a reasonable level of nervous energy is normal. There is nothing weird about experiencing a surge of adrenaline rush, perspiration and excitement. Mental preparedness to avoid choking would involve visualizing the right things, of performing well and doing everything positive. The strategy to be used in the game should be rehearsed and followed through allowing for flexibility where required.While at the event athletes should focus on the game rather than worry about the outcome and be a victim of choking. It’s important for an athlete to realize that any negative thoughts of failure or doubt of his ability would only precipitate the tension and stress of performing the main event. Further it would be next to impossible to perform to the utmost with such a mind frame.”
If I had the privilege to be Messi’s coach, one concept I would use that I learned in class would be mind to muscle. I would do the breathing techniques with him or attempt to get him to refocus. I would help him restructure his stress management, get his head back in the game and only focus on making a goal because I know that it is a stressful situation to have your team and everyone around you to depend on you. As we have seen in many occasions to anyone no matter how great of an athlete they are.
