What Causes "Choking" Under Pressure? And What Can We Do About It?

Have you ever had one of those days on stage where you suddenly can't seem to do a thing that normally is never an issue? Or maybe it's one of those days where everything just spontaneously falls apart? And for seemingly no reason at all, even though you were as prepared as you've ever been? Athletes call this "choking." Or the "yips" (which I think is funner to say). There's actually been quite a bit of interesting research on why this happens. And the answer is way more interesting than ...