A Mental -ROI or Skill for success Edward C. McMillan II SUN Sinology 31 0 Self-Talk: A Mental Took or Skill for Success Self-Talk is verbal dialogue in which individuals interpret their feelings and perceptions, evaluate themselves, and give themselves instructions or reinforcement. Self-talk is an essential skills for successful athletic performance because it helps athletes focus by giving them a prescriptive formula to help prepare them for task and ultimately the event or competition.

Self-Talk Self-Talk is important for optimal athletic performance because Self-talk is a LOL to help keep the athlete relaxed by keeping their arousal down or at least manageable. In working with athletes the goal is to help the athlete perform at their highest level; and relaxation helps to maintain that focus. A key to self-talk is to remember to keep positive and to replace negative words, with positive or constructive words. Self-Talk is a skill that should be used or developed as part of a mental training program.Self-Talk should be one of the tools used as part of mental training program when an athlete is completing a task. For example practice or film review. It can also be used hen competing against a team or individual.

Random thoughts may go through an athletes head, so Self-Talk can control some of those thoughts and help with establishing a routine or check-list to keep the athlete focused. Finally Self-Talk can be used as a tool for athletes recovering from injury. It can be used to limit self-doubt, rebuild confidence, or encourage recovery. Self-Talk can be done correctly if effort is given to use it as a tool.

Self-Talk can be used independently for practice or competitions. It can also be used in conjunction with relaxation or some other tool like visualization. If there is a school or team psychologist they could ask athletes to go thought exercises to overcome anxiety or just game preparation. If a psychologist is not used at your institution a coach could learn some of the techniques and tell the players to use some of techniques for a few days and then he or she can ask them to describe the experience. Athletes can perform better if they have a positive outlook.However, Self-Talk alone will not make you a successful performer. You must combine Self-Talk with your total preparation. In Self- Talk and Sports Performance it noted that the most important aspect for a elf-talk intervention to reach its potential impact is training.

Self-Talk helped to complete task and worked well to improve attitude and conditions about training. Research supporting this is noted in Self-Talk and Sports performance. The research suggests that more evidence has been found that Self-Talk is effective in training and giving a positive outlook on performance in competition.The skill of Self-Talk should be incorporated into a mental training program as soon the athlete begins training. This could work in the off-season preparation in the weight-room, classroom, and team meetings. It loud also be employed if you are recovering from injury. Lastly it could be used when players return to school after a break and need to be reminded of some of their routines. Some ways that athletes could/can more effectively incorporate this skill or tool into their training and/or performance is through their attitude and being aware of the level of arousal needed to be successful.

If the player uses Self-Talk it helps to ingrain attitudes within that player. The player speaks to himself with conviction and emotion until these attitudes become natural, ingrained in the subconscious mind (Keel, 16). So ifs up to he parties involved to know the player and the situation. If a player needs to calm down he may speak slowly or more calmly toward himself (Keel, 16). Two theories that support Self-Talk are the Social Coin dive and the Self- efficacy theories.Social cognitive theory (ACTS), used in psychology, education, and communication, holds that portions of an individual’s knowledge acquisition can be directly related to observing others within the context of social interactions, experiences, and outside media influences. Self-efficacy refers to an individual’s belief in his or her capacity to execute behaviors accessory to produce specific performance attainments (Bandeau, 1 977, 1986, 1997).

Self-efficacy reflects confidence in the ability to exert control over one’s own motivation, behavior, and social environment (Weinberg, 322).In the readings there is an emphasis on staying positive when giving feedback. In the Expectations and performance: An empirical test of Bandanna’s self- efficacy theory it is noted that Coaches and athletes in order to maintain maximum performance. Self-Talk in the Chapter 9 there is a section on ‘ ‘The What of Self Talk”. It discusses that athletes use self-talk in practice on the lied, and off the field. Many examples were discussed but three come to mind.

The first was the swimmer swimming across the English Channel. The swimmer in preparation would say “l can swim the English Channel. This falls under the category of encouragement and effort. Encouragement and effort are words or statements that provide self-encouragement to persevere or try harder. The second example is task specific. For example in Chapter 9 A tennis player will say the word “turn” to prepare for a volley and what they may need to do to prepare during a match. The last example is to use “mood rods like “blast” through the line to arouse the athlete to step up the intensity in American Football or Soccer when there is a chance of collision or contact.

In Treatment acceptability in NCAA Division I football athletes: rehabilitation intervention strategies it is suggested that psychological intervention strategies focused on rehabilitation could aid in recovery, but athlete’s beliefs about his type of intervention could influence the chance of seeking treatment. So sport psychology intervention strategies can influence treatment. It looked at the emotional stress the athlete felt when being forced to deal with the injury. The focus in the case was would this psychological approach be acceptable.The method used was to read a vignette about a player being injured and his professional aspiration being in jeopardy. Immediately afterwards players were given option on how to deal with that adversity.

The choices were the behavior or counseling treatment. The behavioral treatment included self-talk, imagery, realization training and goal setting strategies has methods. The counseling method focused on empathic and supportive relationships between counselor and athlete, and acceptance and emotional awareness. There was no significant different in treatment.I as able to deduce from the article that if Coaches and players are receptive to the psychological approaches list in the text then their attitude can contribute to their recovery. This article made me think about the interrelated, but distinct concepts of imagery, versus relaxation. All techniques aim at improving performance. I think that my preferred method is to attack where the anxiety is coming from and use the method that I am more comfortable with and then through trial and error other methods if my preferred method does not work.

It concluded that athletic injury can result in catastrophic physical and psychological damage.Emotions resulting from serious, career-threatening injury can manifest as fear, anxiety, depression, and can possibly inhibit rehabilitation (Jensen, 165). In the Self-Talk article on water polo provide support for self-talk and how it influences performance. In this article Water polo players tested to see if their performance would improve as a result of self-talk. The 60 people (30 male and 30 female) were given a pre and post test to measure growth after they were given Self-Talk as a tool to help them with the task of throwing the ball in different areas across the pool (Headmistresses, 142). Self-Talk and imagery goes hand and hand.While you are visualizing or imagining doing a successful volley you are also talking your way through the task.

This is self- talk (Tinier, 139). Conclusion performance because it helps athletes focus by giving them a prescriptive competition. Self-Talk is important for optimal athletic performance because Self-talk is a tool to help keep the athlete relaxed or keeps their arousal down or at least manageable. Self-Talk works well in rehabilitation because it can serve as a motivating tool to aid in recovery. Two theories that support Self- Talk are the Social Cognitive and the Self-efficacy theories.