Presented @ Huddle Dublin | September 2016 We have all experienced it – the disappointment and confusion that emerges after putting everything we have into studying, practicing and preparing only to experience utter failure when the big moment comes. We reflect, “how could I have been so successful in practice, but perform so poorly when it mattered most.” This disconnect is common, almost ubiquitous, and these situations are often associated with ‘choking under pressure’, ‘test taking anxiety’, ‘stage fright’, or something similar. Whilst dealing with pressure is part of the equation, it is not the whole story. This presentation seeks to demystify a part of this conundrum and provide insights that should help our practice stick when it counts. Nick Winkelman, PhD | Head Of Athletic Performance and Science, IRFU

1. Performance & Learning
Perfect Practice or Pitch Perfect
Nick Winkelman, PhD | Head of Athletic Performance & Science, IRFU

2. Leaving Cert Examination

3. Putting for the win

4. Presenting @ Huddle Dublin

5. Scoring a Try for the win

6. Worry
Anxiety
Stress

7. Jana Novotna Greg Norman NY Yankees

8. Choking

9. Choking
Choking is suboptimal performance, It’s a result
that is inferior to what you can do and have
done in the past
Beilock, 2010

10. Worrying
When people worry about themselves & their
performance, they tend to try to control
their movement to ensure optimal performance
Beilock, 2010

11. Learning

12. Learning
relatively permanent changes in Motor
behavior or knowledge that supports long-
term retention and transfer to competition
SoderstroM & Bjork, 2015

13. Performance
temporary changes in motor behavior or
knowledge that can be observed & measured
during or immediately after the Practice
SoderstroM & Bjork, 2015

14. (+ / -) Practice
Performance
(+ / -) Pitch
Performance
Positive Practice
Performance
Poor Pitch
Performance
Large % DIFF | ↑ Choking

15. (+ / -) Practice
Performance
(+ / -) Pitch
Performance
Positive Practice
Performance
Poor Pitch
Performance
Large % DIFF | ↓ Retention

16. (+ / -) Practice
Performance
(+ / -) Pitch
Performance
Positive Practice
Performance
Positive Pitch
Performance
small % DIFF | Performing

17. (+ / -) Practice
Performance
(+ / -) Pitch
Performance
Positive Practice
Performance
Positive Pitch
Performance
small % DIFF | Learning

18. Brain

19. DLPFC
PMC
SMC
M1
Novice Expert
01: Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex (DLPFC)
02: Premotor Cortex (PMC)
03: Supplementary Motor Cortex (SMC)
04: Primary Motor Cortex (M1)
“Focus On The Movement”

20. The Learning Brain of a Novice looks very
similar to the Choking Brain of an Expert –
the key – minimizing conscious focus on
“movement steps” during skill execution
Song, 2009 | Beilock, 2010
Consider how shifting your focus
outward as opposed to inward
could help your next big
presentation or sales Pitch

21. Practice

22. Skill1Skill2Skill3
S 1
S 1
S 1
S 1
S 2
S 2
S 2
S 2
S 3
S 3
S 3
S 3
BLOCKED Serial Random

23. A progressive increase in
contextual interference
from blocked to random has
been shown to be superior to
blocked or random only.
Porter et al., 2010

24. Lage et al., 2015

25. Skill Retrieval Drives
learning. To strengthen
retrieval we must first
forget. Skill spacing &
variability creates
Desirable difficulty.
Lage et al., 2015

26. Prepping for a big
presentation or trying
to learn a new skill?
spacing out short &
frequent bursts of
practice is the key.

27. Focus

28. External Focus
Explode Off The Ground
Internal Focus
Explode Through Your Hips
External Focus
Catch Ball at Highest Point
Internal Focus
Extend your arms as high
as you can

29. Internal cues constrain
the motor system by asking
the person to focus on a
Simple part at the expense
of the complex whole. .
External cues direct
attention towards relevant
movement features, allowing
the body to self-organize a
preferred movement solution.
Wulf, 2013

30. External cues have been
shown to inoculate
choking & encourage an
expert-like physiological
state.
Ong et al., 2010 | Neumann & Thomas, 2011

31. Choke by Sian Beilock
Padraig Harrington has
said, to hell with swing
thoughts; he tries to
keep his mind blank and
think only of the ball’s
flight path.

32. THANK YOU
Nick.winkelman@IRFU.ie | @NickWinkelman