Positive Self-Talk for Athletes

By Alexandra Tapak

Edited by Kacey Gibson       

“I suck.” A pre-adolescent athlete spoke these words during practice. After having watched this athlete grow over the past several years, these words hurt even my feelings. In front of me was a grade school child with so much potential and room to grow but in this instance the child’s self-worth and performance were destroyed by negative self-talk. This experience inspired me to write about the importance of positive self-talk.

            Self-talk is defined by Hackfort and Schwenkmezger (1993) as internal dialogue during which individuals interpret feelings, perceptions, and cognitions. There are two types of self-talk: instructional and motivational. Instructional self-talk focuses on execution, tactical decisions, and body movements. Motivational self-talk focuses on effort the athlete puts forth, self-confidence, and mood (Hardy & Alexander, 2001). Van Raalte, Brewer, Rivera, and Pepitas (1994) noted that some tennis players who utilized negative self-talk and gestures still won their matches. The successes of these athletes were attributed to motivational self-talk (Van Raalte, Brewer, Rivera, & Pepitas, 1994). These tennis players were reflecting belief in their own competence and interpreting statements of “that stinks” as “come on you are a good player and can do better” (Van Raalte et al., 1994). However, the continued use of negative self-talk can have negative effects on self-confidence (Negativity, 2010).

            Negative self-talk can greatly interfere with an athlete’s performance and might require a professional intervention (Negativity, 2010). This intervention should span beyond telling the athlete to use positive self-talk. If I told young athletes to use positive self-talk they would look at me as if I was speaking in a different language. When addressing young athletes it is important to speak in a language that they can understand and at their developmental level.

            As a coach in this situation, I stopped the athlete and had a conversation about being kind to oneself while competing, that everyone makes mistakes, and to continue working on new skills. The young athlete agreed that she didn’t “suck” as an athlete or as a person. The athlete explained that she was frustrated after losing a point because she made the wrong decision and could have used better shot selection. I then utilized an intervention to demonstrate the power of positive self-talk:

Coach: Did saying you “sucked” help the situation or did it make you play better or feel better?”

Athlete: “No it didn’t really do anything.”

Coach: “If I or another coach told you that you are awesome would make you feel good?”

Athlete: “Yes.”

Coach:  “You are awesome (the athlete smiled). What what would happen if you told yourself that you are awesome?

Athlete: “I don’t know but I’ll try it.”

I will continue to encourage this athlete practice positive self-talk and check-in on her use of the new skill on a regular basis. I believe that practicing positive self-talk will help her achieve great success both on and off of the court.

            As a sport psychology consultant, it is important for me to explore self-talk beyond breaking down positive and negative by classifying the thoughts as instructional and motivational (Tod, Hardy, & Oliver, 2011). Sport psychology consultants should pay attention to when and how often self-talk occurs (Tod, Hardy, & Oliver, 2011) because tracking athletes self-talk can be one way to help athletes improve.

How to Create Positive Self-Talk

            The first step in creating positive self-talk is acknowledging times when self-talk occurs. Remember, self-talk is not limited to the times you are engaging in positive and negative statements such as “ I can do this” or “ I can never do this.” Self-talk also includes gestures used to pump up such as a fist pump or bring down such as self-inflicting blows (Van Raalte et al., 1994).

Next, track self-talk and examine what kind of self-talk was used during previous performances, during current performances, and also post-performance. Another example of learning how to identify self-talk is when Hardy, Roberts, and Hardy (2009) gave athletes 50 paperclips at the beginning of each training session. The athletes were instructed to place all of the paperclips in their right pocket and every time they engaged in negative self-talk they moved one paperclip from their right pocket into their left pocket. This exercise in conjunction with a daily diary helped athletes identify their negative self-talk (Hardy, Roberts, & Hardy, 2009).

Once athletes can identify self-talk, they can enhance self-talk statements by categorizing them as motivational and/or instructional. Zourbanos (2013) created intentional instructional and motivational self-talk statements for physical education students participating in basketball. The created motivational and instructional statements were brief, purposeful, and attached to cues within the game (Zourbanos, 2013). Having specific statements prepared in advance can decrease potential anxiety or feeling pressured to come up with positive statements on the fly. Example statements athletes can use are “I got this,” “I can do it,” and “This is great, I know I can persevere!”

These are general guidelines for practicing self-talk and every individual athlete is unique. For a more tailored plan and to uncover how your statements are affecting you and your performance, contact an AASP Certified (CC-AASP) sport psychology consultant.  

References

Hackfort, D., & Schwenkmezger, P. (1993) Anxiety. In R. N. Singer, M. Murphy, & L. K. Tennant (Eds.), Handbook of research on sport psychology (pp.335). New York, NY: Macmillan.

Hardy, J., Hall, C. R., & Alexander, M. R. (2001). Exploring self-talk and affective states in sport. / exploration de l ' auto-suggestion et de l ' etat emotionnel en sport. Journal of Sports Sciences, 19(7), 469-475. Retrieved from

Hardy, J., Roberts, R., & Hardy, L. (2009). Awareness and motivation to change negative self-talk. Sport Psychologist, 23(4), 435-450.

Lane, A. M., Beedie, C. J., Devonport, T. J., & Stanley, D. M. (2011). Instrumental emotion regulation in sport: Relationships between beliefs about emotion and emotion regulation strategies used by athletes. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, 21(6), e445-e451.

Negativity. (2010). Journal of Pure Power, 5(2), 64-67. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.adler.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.adler.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=s3h&AN=49113949&site=ehost-live&scope=site

Tod, D., Hardy, J., & Oliver, E. (2011). Effects of self-talk: A systematic review. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 33(5), 666-687.

Van Raalte, J. L., & Brewer, B. W. (1994). The relationship between observable self-talk and competitive junior tennis players' match performances. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 16(4), 400-415.

Zourbanos, N. (2013). The use of instructional and motivational self-talk in setting up a physical education lesson. JOPERD: The Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance, 84(8), 54-58. doi:10.1080/07303084.2013.827555