Quiet eye and choking: online control breaks down at the point of performance failure.

PURPOSE: The quiet eye (QE) is a characteristic of highly skilled perceptual and motor performance that has been shown to be sensitive to increases in anxiety. The present study is the first to examine changes in the QE at the precise point of performance failure under heightened anxiety. QE durations were compared for the first, penultimate, and final (missed) putts taken in a pressurized shootout task. To probe the effects of anxiety more specifically, differences in the component of the QE that occurred before (QE-pre), during (QE-online), and after (QE-dwell) putter movement were examined.

METHODS: Fifty expert golfers (average handicap of 3.6) performed putts under pressure until they missed ("shootout"). Gaze was recorded throughout with an ASL Mobile Eye Tracker. Total QE, preprogramming QE (the proportion of QE that occurred before backswing; QE-pre), online control QE (the proportion of QE that occurred during the putting stroke; QE-online), and QE-dwell (the proportion of QE that occurred after putter-ball contact; QE-dwell) were calculated for the first, penultimate, and final putts.

RESULTS: Total QE duration was significantly shorter for the final (missed) putt compared with the first and penultimate (successful) putts. Although QE-pre duration was similar across the three putts, the components of the QE occurring during (QE-online) and after (QE-dwell) putter movement were significantly shorter on the missed putt.

CONCLUSIONS: Performance failure under pressure appears to be due to disruptions in attentional control once movement has been initiated. These findings support the predictions of attentional control theory and suggest that the QE may have an online control function, providing visual sensory information as the movement unfolds.