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Randy Dotinga writes: If you're a football fan, you've probably seen a team "ice" an opposing kicker in the final moments of a close game by taking a timeout at the last possible second.
The idea is to throw the kicker off his stride by disrupting his concentration and giving him more time to worry about how the entire game rides on his ability to get the pigskin between those uprights.
A new study says icing in the NFL is actually a pretty good strategy, providing even more support for a counterintuitive rule of thumb (and foot): Sometimes, extra time to prepare is the last thing people need when they're under pressure.
"The more time people have on their hands, the more opportunities they have to think too much. And taking too much time to attend to every detail of what you are doing can muck up your performance," says Sian L. Beilock, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Chicago.
That seems to be what happens to kickers in the NFL when they're iced right before a crucial kick.
Researchers looked at 273 "pressure kicks" in the last moments of close games from six NFL seasons. They found that kickers successfully kicked field goals more than 80 percent of the time when they weren't delayed by a timeout by the opposing team. But the success rate tumbled to two-thirds when they were iced, said the report, which appears in the September issue of the journal The Sports Psychologist.
There may be more going on than just overthinking. "It's possible that physically preparing for the kick is taxing," says study lead author Nadav Goldschmied, a professor of psychology at the University of San Diego. "You're getting ready, you're under pressure, you're focused, and then you stop and then you need to do the preparation phase again."
Beilock, the University of Chicago professor, says the lesson of the study -- be careful about taking too much time here to think and analyze -- will likely apply to "any situation where there is pressure to perform at a high level."
You can even apply this knowledge to give you a leg up in any sort of competition, says Beilock, author of the upcoming book "Choke: What the Secrets of the Brain Reveal About Getting It Right When You Have To."
If you can, she says, go first, "especially if your opponent has to wait around after you go before they can show their stuff."
Have you ever choked? Tell us in the comments.
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Leave a Comment:
Way to go you liquored up kicker...
Wide right...
I kicked in High School, so the pressure wasn't near what these guys face, but I used to recite 'Mary had a little lamb' to myself when lining up for any kick to keep my mind clear. It helped me avoid the mental 'lockups' that make kickers badly miss kicks they make 20 straight times in practice.
Just take a look at the Chargers kicker. He is a great example of a player that chokes when the pressure is on.
The laces were in! They were in!!
Yes. I choke whenever I go on a job interview. Even though I am very qualified for the position I am applying, I am told later that I seemed scared.
Because I know of the pending interview, I think that causes me to go into a panic or worry mode about how well I will do and whether I will get the job.
If I ran into a person in a social setting who happened to be a manager and we started talking, I would be very at ease and he would probably think to him or herself, "Wow...this guy is really charismatic and intelligent." But if I had to meet that same person who was deciding my employment fate, I would certainly choke.
If anyone has any ideas, please tell me.
Signed, Desperate for a job in Nashville.
Sean,
The problem is in your signoff - don't be desperate. The best interviews I have ever had are when I'm not sure if I wanted the job or not. Remember that you are interviewing them also. Go in with the mindset that they have to convince you that their company is a good fit for you, as well as you are a good fit for them. I know - easier said than done. I've had my share of nerve-related bad interviews also.
If you try that and still can't seem to shake the nervousness, maybe try to use that to your advantage. Early in the interview, tell them that you're sorry you're so nervous, but you really want this particular job because...(insert good reason specific to that company).
Good luck.
Even though the "experts" can prove that it does what it's suppose to do, I think this is a very juvenile play - DO NOT LIKE IT! They should throw a flag at the coach doing it and give them a 10 yard penalty to go with it!
Hey chas, It's called STRATEGY! You obviously know very little about the "game" of football, because it's "little" things like that, that can make the difference between a W and a L, which is all that matters (in a football game).
"Tie-dye guy",
If winning is all that matters in football, why have any rules at all.? Why not have the entire team, plus coaches, jump on a running back, beat him senseless, take the ball and run for a touchdown? Apparently, you haven't heard of that STRATEGY. Your comments are ignorant and unwarranted.
Ummm. Part of Psychology is statistics. This article is talking about 5%. The difference between 80% and "two - thirds" (75%). That is A difference, but not much.
Shawn. I belive 2/3rds equals 66.666%. Difference equates to over 13%, which IS a big difference. Many kickers who missed just 10% fewer field goals have been relesed from their jobs. Some never get over the stigma early in their careers for blowing an easy one in a big game (see FSU close losses to Miami, Florida, etc.). Tony Dungy was a master of the icing technique because he managed his timeouts in such a way that a close game field goal at the end he could call multiple back-to-back timeouts after the kicker lined up each time. It worked enough to make him the highest winning percentage coach in the NFL ever.
SHAWNFOMMOIGH,
My GOD. You are a moron. How in the hell are you able to operate a computer if you think that two thirds is equal to 75%? Is your handler in the bathroom? Did they make your leash just long enough to reach the laptop when nobody is looking? You're going to infect the rest of the world with your stupid, so please keep your comments to yourself. You're the reason people hate America, you jerk.