When the going gets tough, the tough get going... unless they can’t

The results can have a major bearing on our lives and how well we perform is down, in no small measure, to our ability to handle pressure.

In the world of sport the difference between success and failure can boil down to how individuals, teams and even coaches perform when it really matters.

On Monday night, Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United team, who only a few weeks ago had a seemingly unassailable eight point lead at the top of the Premier League, lost to Manchester City, putting their local rivals back in pole position to win the title.

Nerves are one thing, though, but crumbling under pressure is another.

Last year, golfing sensation Rory McIlroy threw away a four-shot lead in the final round of the US Masters to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Fortunately for him he bounced back to win the US Open, but he’s not the only person to come unstuck at crucial moments.

Jimmy White is widely regarded as one of the most gifted snooker players the sport has seen but failed to win the world championship despite reaching the final six times, while I could fill these column inches recounting the occasions England’s batting order has fallen like dominoes during big Test matches.

How much of all this was down to the pressure of the occasion is open to debate, but with Olympic athletes facing life-defining moments this summer their ability to handle the heat of competition will be a huge factor. A new test examining the psychology of pressure, devised by the BBC’s Lab UK – a science website, aims to shed light on why some people are more prone to crack under pressure than others.

The experiment, Can You Compete Under Pressure?, features athletics superstar and Olympic Gold medallist Michael Johnson. Peter Totterdell, professor of psychology at Sheffield University, helped design the online test which looks at how emotion and mental preparation affects performance.

“This study provides us with an exciting opportunity to find out whether people can benefit from simple psychological techniques to help them compete under pressure, and it will enable us to investigate and understand much better how emotions influence performance,” he explains.

Participants in the study receive a personal performance analysis and advice on mental preparation, while Johnson also provides psychological training during the test and, using unique technology, analyses their performance afterwards. It’s hoped the study will help pinpoint the key factors that enable some people to raise their game at crucial moments.

“I think we’ll find that most people either naturally have the ability to deal with pressure or they don’t, but most people don’t understand that they actually can train, that they can improve themselves in that area,” says Johnson.

“I think that everyone has to deal with pressure situations. Since I’ve retired I’m still under pressure because of the things I want to do. In order to deal with that and be more successful in achieving my goals I have to continue to learn how to handle pressure, so I think it could help anyone who’s in a situation, and everyone is at some point, deal with pressure.”

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