1. PAGES 1-35 - Texas Track & Field Coaches Association

A MENTAL PLAN
Figure 1. The hammer throw is an example of a
complex skill that involves strength and power
in the individual sport of track and field.
too long to focus an athlete’s attention appropriately on the
cues that would be the most effective in assisting the athlete
in achieving an optimal result. Content of self-talk also varies
by the experience of the athlete and the complexity/novelty of
the skill that is being performed. When a skill is new (and
therefore more complex), or the athlete is inexperienced,
longer self-talk that includes more details to facilitate mastery
of the physical skill will need to be used. Conversely, experienced
athletes, or those performing a skill that is simple, will
not require as many cues; a single self-talk unit is most effective.
Frequency of self-talk will differ depending on the
nature of the sport being played. Athletes who play individual
sports will use more self-talk than those in team sports (Hardy
et al., 2005). This phenomenon
could be attributed to the timegoverned
nature of most team
sports that does not afford athletes
the luxury to use self-talk.
Athletes playing team sports are
also more likely to use negative
and external self-talk, but less
overall self-talk than athletes in
individual sports (Hardy et al.,
2005). The “team” nature of some
sports may be a reason why selftalk
is predominantly negative or
external amongst athletes. In a
team sport, an individual may
view himself/herself as only a
small part of the equation. Team
sport athletes could believe that
their self-talk has little impact on
the game or match because they
have multiple teammates influencing
the outcome.
The appropriateness of selftalk
in relation to the task being
performed is also an important
element to consider. Endurance
tasks (i.e. long distance running)
and strength/power tasks (i.e.
weight lifting) will differ in their
self-talk demands. One study
examined the effect of motivational
or instructional self-talk on
four different tasks: a soccer pass
for accuracy, a badminton serve,
a 3-minute sit-up test
(endurance), and a MVC on a leg
extension (strength). The results
showed that instructional selftalk
impacts all tasks but is less
effective on the endurance tasks.
There were few differences in the
effectiveness of the motivational
self-talk among all tasks except
KIRBY LEE PHOTOGRAPH
for the strength test. In the control
group, self-talk proved to be
much less effective. (Theodorakis,
Weinberg, Natsis, Dourma, & Kazakas, 2000). This occurs
because in a strength power test, a short burst of energy is
required for performance and can be enhanced by motivational
phraseology.
Further study in the realm of self-talk will likely focus on its
precursors such as how the events that precede the self-talk
influence the internal/external dialogue of an athlete.
Preliminary studies have focused primarily on the role of the
coach as the catalyst of self-talk. One of the preliminary studies
found that the level of supportiveness demonstrated by a
coach was highly correlated with the use of positive statements,
which then led to positive self-talk in athletes
(Zourbanos, Hatzigeorgiadis, & Theodorakis, 2007). Given the
30 techniques AUGUST 2011