This study conducted semi-structured interviews with 13 female football players in Shanghai. After learning about the phenomenon of Choking, the athletes were asked to describe their experience of Choking in competition, so as to explore the psychological mechanism of Choking in competition. According to the interviews, the main reason for Choking is that athletes are disturbed by various factors when facing competition pressure, which results in their inability to focus their attention well on the competition. The disturbance blocks the natural proceeding of their technical actions. In the dynamic process of pressure awareness and decision-making, Choking eventually occurs under the influence of multiple factors. With the interview results, a total of 26 topics were located from the original data, and then 9 advanced topics were further summarized, on the basis of which 3 general dimensions were concluded: the source of pressure, the reaction under pressure and the results caused by pressure. These 3 dimensions correspond with the causes, symptoms and results of Choking. Accordingly, it is concluded that the Choking of female football players is resulted from various interference before the competition. The interference triggers their physical and psychological Choking symptoms during the competition, and ultimately leads to the abnormal performance of techniques and tactics. The Choking of female football players in competition will "pass on" to their teammates. |