Thread dumps provide snapshots of a Java application's threads and their states. When a slowdown occurs, get multiple thread dumps over time to analyze thread activity and identify potential issues like:
1) Lock contention between threads waiting to enter synchronized methods or blocks.
2) Deadlocks from circular wait conditions that can hang applications.
3) Threads waiting for I/O responses from databases or networks.
4) High CPU usage by specific threads as shown through monitoring tools.
Analyzing thread dumps helps locate performance bottlenecks and fix synchronization, resource contention, or inefficient code issues degrading application speed.