When pressure to perform is increased, individuals commonly perform worse than if there were no pressure (''choking under pressure''). Two mechanisms have been proposed to account for this effect-distraction (cognitive load), wherein pressure distracts attention from the task, and self-focus, wherein attention shifts inward interfering with performance. To distinguish between these two competing explanations the current experiment manipulated pressure by offering performance-contingent rewards. For half the participants, cognitive load was increased by requiring participants to count backward from 100. Additionally, adaptation to self-awareness was manipulated by videotaping half the participants during practice trials. Results show that pressure caused choking when participants were not distracted and had not been adapted to self-awareness. This effect was attenuated when. cognitive load was increased or when self-awareness adaptation had occurred. These results support self-focus mediated misregulation as the mechanism for choking and disconfirm the distraction hypothesis.