Clutch vs. Choking Performance: Examining NBA Free Throw Shooting Under Pressure

Abstract

This study analyzes the effects of psychological pressure on the free throw shooting performance of professional NBA basketball players. Using five season of play by play data the current study investigates the concept that players have a tendency to either over-perform (clutch performance) or under-perform (choking behavior) using the single most controlled form of offensive production in sports: the free throw. Using sports as a natural context to examine human behavior the results of this research reveal not only that NBA basketball players suffer from a tendency to under-perform in moments of enhanced pressure, but also that choking behavior is less the result of individual characteristics and more the result of regulatory focus theory.