RESEARCH_FILE
Lew Hardy
Bangor University (Institute for the Psychology of Elite Performance)
Known for:The catastrophe model of anxiety and performance — how worry turns rising arousal into a sudden collapse instead of a graceful decline
SEE THE PRACTICE
Turn a thought this research explains into one clear move.
THE THOUGHT
“One bad practice and I'm on the bench”
YOUR RECORDED RESPONSE
“Coaches bench hesitation, not every mistake.”
ONE PRIVATE MOVE
During your next solo skill rep or warm-up drill, allow one imperfect attempt on purpose, then keep going for two more reps without looking up to see if anyone noticed. Jot down what you feared would happen versus what actually happened.
Key findings
- 1990
Proposed that cognitive anxiety (worry) and physiological arousal interact: with low worry, performance follows the classic inverted-U, but with high worry, rising arousal can trigger a sudden catastrophic drop rather than a gradual decline. A catastrophe model of anxiety and performance ↗
- 2003
With Tim Woodman, meta-analyzed competitive-sport studies and found self-confidence (r = 0.24) a significantly stronger predictor of performance than cognitive anxiety (r = -0.10). The relative impact of cognitive anxiety and self-confidence upon sport performance: a meta-analysis ↗
- 2007
With Stuart Beattie and Tim Woodman, tested effort required as an asymmetry factor in the catastrophe model and found support for hysteresis: performance drops suddenly at a different arousal point than the one at which it later recovers. Anxiety-induced performance catastrophes: Investigating effort required as an asymmetry factor ↗