Coach support during competition reduces choking
2 studies · 123 archers measured
The summary today
There are two studies, and neither tests an effect. The one closest to the question is a questionnaire on 115 Italian competitive archers: those who feel supported by their coach in competition report fewer choking episodes over the previous six months, with a weight of -0.23 in a regression that accounts for rumination and for the ability to step back from one's thoughts, and of -0.25 in the overall model. The link is weak, and what counts is the support perceived in competition (r = -0.15), not the support perceived in training (r = -0.10), even though the two measures correlate at 0.70. In the same model the archers who prefer training in a group feel more supported, which opens an alternative reading: the kind of archer may matter more than what the coach does. The other study gathers the accounts of eight South Korean Olympic archers: in critical moments calm, personal encouragement helps, while a supportive phrase repeated from behind the line can be a distraction. These are a cross-sectional association with choking reported by the archers themselves and eight interviews: an archer who often goes to pieces may also remember the coach as less present.
Also phrased as: "the coach in competition prevents choking"; "coach support and collapsing under pressure"; "the coach behind the line"; "choking and the coach relationship"
In practice
People say that a calm coach standing behind the line keeps the archer from freezing at the moments that matter, and that leaving them alone in competition is a mistake.
Evidence
-
2020
Context Archers Published later
8 South Korean national team archers with at least one Olympic appearance, semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis. Under the theme of encouragement (p. 7) one archer says that after a seven, following five tens in a row, the coach calmly told him to trust himself and described in a few words how he shoots when he shoots at his best, and that this helped; another says that a supportive phrase repeated several times from behind the line, during a team final, gave none of the information they wanted and stopped them concentrating. In moments of crisis (pp. 7-8) a coach who is angry or visibly anxious lowers confidence and raises anxiety. Choking is not measured.
"Coach Really Knew What I Needed and Understood Me Well as a Person": Effective Communication Acts in Coach-Athlete Interactions among Korean Olympic Archers · Youngsook Kim, Inchon Park
-
2021
For Archers Published later
115 Italian competitive archers (72 men and 43 women, 39 ± 15.5 years), questionnaires and the number of choking episodes reported over the previous six months: in a hierarchical regression, coach support perceived in competition weighs β = -0.231 (ΔR² = 0.046) alongside rumination (β = 0.230) and the ability to step back from one's thoughts (β = -0.250), with R² = 0.193 for the whole model; in the structural model support, merging competition and training, weighs -0.248 (p < 0.010). In the simple correlations what counts is support in competition (r = -0.151, p < 0.05) and not support in training (r = -0.095, not significant), although the two correlate with each other at 0.703.
An Exploratory Pilot Study on Choking Episodes in Archery · Pierluigi Diotaiuti, Stefano Corrado, Stefania Mancone, Lavinia Falese, Fábio Hech Dominski, Alexandro Andrade
-
2021
Context Archers Published later
In the same structural model, archers who prefer training in a group feel more supported by their coach (weight 0.335, p < 0.001): the link between support and choking may also depend on the kind of archer, not only on what the coach does in competition.
An Exploratory Pilot Study on Choking Episodes in Archery · Pierluigi Diotaiuti, Stefano Corrado, Stefania Mancone, Lavinia Falese, Fábio Hech Dominski, Alexandro Andrade
Status history
- 2020 Not studied The first material on archers is qualitative: eight South Korean Olympic archers say that in critical moments, such as after a seven in the middle of a run of tens, calm, personal encouragement helps them, while a generic phrase repeated from behind the line distracts them, and that they want support and information about their performance together. Choking is not measured, though, and the accounts point in different directions depending on how the coach speaks: they say the manner matters, not that support reduces choking. There is still no evidence that answers the question.
- 2021 Reported The first measured data arrive: among 115 Italian competitive archers, those who feel supported by their coach in competition report fewer choking episodes, with a weight of -0.23 in regression and -0.25 in the overall model, while support perceived in training is not linked to choking. Those who prefer training in a group also feel more supported. It is the first evidence that answers the question, and it is a weak cross-sectional association, with choking reported by the archers themselves: it cannot say whether support is what reduces choking. The evidence in favour is there and it is limited.
Related
Related articles
- Choking in archery: how common it is, who it happens to and what goes with itHow many archers say they fall apart in competition, what those who choke most often have in common, and how much pressure costs on measured scores.
- The archery coach: how much they matter and what they do on the shooting lineWhat the studies say about archer and coach, and how they communicate in competition: when to step in, when to keep quiet and how much gestures count.
Research lines
Cite
Campagna, M. (2026). Coach support during competition reduces choking (Version 1). In Evidence Registry. Retrieved 16 October 2026, from https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/mind/coach-support-choking
@misc{campagna2026_allenatoreriducechoking,
author = {Campagna, Matteo},
title = {Coach support during competition reduces choking},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {Evidence Registry, matteocampagna.com},
url = {https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/mind/coach-support-choking},
note = {Version 1; accessed 2026-10-16}
}
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