20.2: Self-Talk

Self-talk is thought to have strong ties to our cognitions and affect in the sporting domain (Williams et al., 2015; for more discussion on affect, see Chapter 4 [Brand & Ekkekakis, 2021], Chapter 11 [Jones & Zenko, 2021], and Chapter 12 [Zenko & Ladwig, 2021]). In fact, self-talk has been highlighted in previous studies of Olympic level athletes as a tool that they use to achieve sporting success (Gould et al., 1993). Self-talk is often defined as our internal dialogue that is almost constant throughout the day for many people (Hardy, 2006). Self-talk has been proposed as a tool that athletes can harness to perform at their best. However, simply having an internal dialogue does not necessary lead to success; as such we will cover the foundations of research in the self-talk literature and then provide some suggestions for how to maximize self-talk as a useful tool in an athlete’s psychological tool chest.

20.2.1. What is Self-Talk?

Self-talk has many synonyms including inner dialogue, intrapersonal speech, inner voice, or internal monologue. By definition, self-talk is dynamic, multidimensional, and serves both instructional and motivational functions (Hardy, 2006). Self-talk has many purposes and uses for athletes (Hardy, 2006). One athlete might use more motivational components of self-talk, compared to another athlete who might use self-talk to induce the appropriate amount of arousal before a competition.

20.2.2. Conceptualizing Self-talk

Only a few self-talk models have been proposed in the sport psychology literature over the years. However, one of the few models that has been circulated comes from Hardy and colleagues (2009). The self-talk model that was proposed highlights there are both antecedents and consequences of self-talk for most athletes. Specifically, there are personal factors and situational factors that are antecedents to athletes’ self-talk. The personal factors can include how athletes prefer to process cognitive information, how much an athlete believes self-talk will impact their performance, and personality traits that might make athletes more amenable to self-talk (Hardy et al., 2009). Situational factors that influence self-talk include (a) how difficult the task is, (b) the competitive setting the athlete is in (along with other social pressures), and (c) the coaching behaviors interpreted from the athlete. The model proposes that self-talk can directly influence performance in sport and that self-talk can also have other cognitive and behavioral consequences. Some of the other consequences that are highlighted by Hardy and colleague’s (2009) are cognitive mechanisms (such as concentration), motivational mechanisms (self-motivation and confidence), behavioral mechanisms (skill technique), and affect mechanisms (general affect and sport-related anxiety). Like most psychological skills models, the Hardy and colleagues (2009) model places self-talk at the center of the model.

A more recent model of self-talk outlined by Latinjak et al. (2019) breaks self-talk into two categories; organic self-talk and strategic self-talk. Organic self-talk is defined as self-spoken statements that reflect what is currently happening cognitively with the athlete (Latinjak et al., 2019). Within the organic self-talk category, Latinjak and colleagues propose separate subcategories of spontaneous self-talk, goal-directed self-talk, and self-talk that occurs in reflexive interventions (i.e. reflecting on past events and analyzing the self-talk that occurred). Strategic self-talk is defined as cue works used specifically for strategic purposes (Latinjak et al., 2019). Strategic self-talk is planned and practiced before competition to help athletes manage their arousal, anxiety, motivation, to keep them focused on the task at hand. Understanding how self-talk occurs both through organic (more natural processes) and strategic (more trained processes) provides insight into what the purposes of self-talk are for athletes and might elucidate a better understanding from consultants when trying to work with athletes.

Despite some differences in the models of self-talk, each model suggests that self-talk can be used to benefit sport performance. The next section of this chapter will be devoted to understand the benefits of self-talk and how to use self-talk for sporting success.

20.2.3. Why is Self-Talk Important?

Tod and colleagues (2011) noted in a review of 47 self-talk studies that self-talk can be beneficial for sports performance whenever it is positive, instructional, and motivational in nature. This study also concluded that negative self-talk did not have detrimental effects on performance, but is also unlikely to provide beneficial effects. Overall, it appears that self-talk can be used as a tool to enhance sport performance, perhaps though cognitive and behavioral mediators or mechanisms (Hardy et al., 2009).

Self-talk might be a more useful tool in sports that are self-paced (e.g., golf, tennis) compared to sports that are externally paced (e.g., soccer or basketball; Williams et al., 2015). Sports that are self-paced allow for more time and control over the process of starting the action. This means that there is more time available for athletes to have a pre-programmed plan that can be quickly put into action.

There is evidence that self-talk can be beneficial for athletes. Looking at the Hardy and colleagues’ model (2009), the next few paragraphs will outline the ways in which self-talk can benefit the cognitive, motivational, behavioral, and affective mechanisms in sports.

The cognitive mechanism of self-talk is directed at any process in sport that involves the processing of information, concentration, or attention (Hardy et al., 2009). In fact, one of the most common reasons that athletes use self-talk is to help them focus or concentrate on the task at hand (Hardy et al., 2001). Self-talk can help direct the processing of information to the most relevant parts of the skill. When working with athletes, it is important to correctly identify the parts of the skill performance where the cognitive processing needs to be present. Once the athletes and coaches have identified they key parts of the performance where the attention should be focused, the next step would be to identify key words or phrases that the athlete could say to themselves to keep their focus on the relevant details. Using a key word or phrase can direct an athlete’s attention to the most relevant part of the performance, hopefully leading to improvements in skill performance. If a basketball player is about to take a free throw they might need to think “smooth and follow through” right before taking their shot to ensure that they are focused on the parts of the shot that will lead to optimal outcomes.

Some athletes use self-talk to motivate themselves to perform their best during challenging circumstances. Hardy and colleagues (2009) further break down the motivational component of their model into self-efficacy and persistence. According to self-efficacy theory (Bandura, 1997) verbal persuasion, which can come from oneself, is a way to build perceptions of self-efficacy. Therefore, if an athlete uses self-talk that reflects on their high ability level, they will likely see increases in confidence. Motivational self-talk might also keep people going during difficult tasks and keep them driven to achieve success. Although proposed in the Hardy and colleagues’ model, this has little support in the sport psychology literature with very few studies examining the topic (Hardy et al., 2009)

The behavioral mechanisms of self-talk are highly intertwined with other aspects of kinesiology like biomechanics, motor learning, and motor behavior. Hardy and colleagues note that movement patterns are hypothesized be tied to the self-talk of an individual. However, to-date there is little evidence that supports this mechanism.

Hardy and colleagues (2009) use the affective mechanisms label as an umbrella term to capture all things affect, mood, and emotion (for further discussion on the distinctions between affect, mood, and emotion, see Chapter 12; Zenko & Ladwig, 2021). Using self-talk that manages feelings of anxiety and arousal can be beneficial for athletes who have performance decrements due to arousal issues. Using language that is calming or relaxing could create an affective state that would benefit the athlete. On the contrary, if an athlete is having a difficult time getting appropriately aroused and ready to go for a game or match, the athlete could benefit from self-talk that is energizing and stimulating. However, more research is necessary to understand the ties between self-talk and affect in sport.

20.2.4. Application

At first, athletes might struggle to even know what they say to themselves during a performance. Athletes might also struggle with the awareness of self-talk. One of the first things to have them do would be to create a self-talk journal that documents the things that they said during practice or game situations. This will make the athlete more aware and help them see that their self-talk patterns might not be helping them perform at high levels (and for many athletes they will recognize that their self-talk patterns could be improved).

Another useful tool is having athletes reflect to their previous best performances and attempt to remember the types of self-talk that they were engaged in during that performance. For this exercise, the athlete can try to remember as many details as possible of their best performance (this will also impact some self-efficacy perceptions). To make this relevant to self-talk, have them reflect on the things that they said to themselves and jot down the things that are relevant to future performances. If the self-talk worked then, regardless of the purpose, it might be beneficial for future performances. Furthermore, the understanding the type of self-talk that is beneficial for performance can guide a self-talk intervention for future performances.

Lastly, a common technique used by practitioners to change self-talk is thought-reframing, also known as cognitive reappraisal. In this technique, someone would work with an athlete to take the negative self-talk and have the athlete reframe the thought with the purpose of using the reframed phrases whenever the athlete is in a similar situation in the future. For example, if a tennis player hits a shot out, they could say, “I am terrible, I can’t believe I missed that.” An athlete could instead say, “I missed that shot, but I know that shot does not define me. Next point matters the most.” Thought-reframing is a very common technique use by sport psychology professionals for athletes who struggle with negative self-talk during performances.