The effect of self-talk on Tae-kwon-do skills’ learning of novice athletes and perceived use of it

Abstract

Zetou, E., Vernadakis, N., Bebetsos, E., & Liadakis, N. (2014). The effect of self-talk on Tae-kwon-do skills' learning of novice athletes and perceived use of it. J. Hum. Sport Exerc., 9(1), pp.124-135. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of instructional self-talk on performance and learning two basic skills of W.T.F Tae-kwon-do (Ap chagi and Bandae jireugi), in the perceived use of self-talk of novice athletes as well as in the possible correlation between the dimensions (effort, automaticity, cognitive and emotional control, self-confidence and attention) of the "Functions of Self-Talk Questionnaire,-FSTQ" (Theodorakis, Hatzigeorgiadis & Chroni, 2008). The sample consisted of 36 novice boys and girls, 8-12 years old (M=9.53, SD=1.53) and were randomly divided into two groups, the experimental (instructional self-talk group, N = 18) and the control group (N = 18). The intervention program lasted 8 weeks (2 sessions per week). Before starting the practice of skills, the participants spoke aloud specific key-words for the proper use of the technical skill. Participants were evaluated with a pre-test in the beginning of the program, a post-test at the end and one week after the final test they were evaluated in retention test. Moreover the evaluation of skill involved ten trials every skill, which were recorded by a digital camera and evaluated in five main elements of skill, by two observers. The result showed that the instructional self-talk was more effective for performance and learning the skills than the group that received feedback with traditional teaching. The use of instructional self-talk on younger athletes helped them to learn the skills but also to develop the psychological dimensions of the questionnaire (effort, automaticity, cognitive and emotional control, self-confidence and attention). Instructional self-talk can be an additional tool in the hands of the coach / physical education teacher for teaching and improving skill performances in other sports.

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“…It is also very important the type of instructions feedback which instructors provide to their athletes/students. Recently, self-talk instructions which athletes were said to themselves loudly, improved the skill technique in volleyball, swimming and Tae-kwon-do (Zetou, Vernadakis, Bebetsos, & Makraki, 2012;Zetou, Vernadakis, Bebetsos, & Liadakis, 2014), archery (Bebetsos, 2015), and in physical exercise involvement in general (Dimitrakaki et al, 2013). Vernadakis, Antoniou, Zetou, and Kioumourtzoglou, (2004) also support the role of computer assistance as instructional mean which instructors could use for skill learning (Vernadakis, Zetou, Antoniou, & Kioumourtzoglou, 2002;Vernadakis, Zetou, Avgerinos, Giannousi, & Kioumourtzoglou, 2006 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------…”

Sport Psychological Skill Factors and Scale Development for Taekwondo Athletes

“…Athletes face a great psychological burden during competitions; thus, not only strong physical strength and skills but also psychological management of fear and anxiety are important in Taekwondo [ 15 ]. There have been numerous studies of Taekwondo athletes’ psychological skills [ 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 ], revealing that relaxation, self-talk, and imagery are especially closely related to the athletic performance. However, despite uncovering the relationship between performance and sport psychological skills, these studies also have limitations, in that they did not determine the mechanisms or created measures of sport psychological skills specifically reflecting Taekwondo.…”

Effect of Self-Talk on Male Intervarsity Volleyball Players' Performance

“…Zinsser, Bunker and Williams (2001) understood and shared the idea of self-talking as being a key to cognitive control of an athlete relying on positive statements and controlling aggressive acts and behaviors. Also, impeding the negative behavior or the illogical thoughts by disapproving them or giving rise to the positive thoughts (Zetou et al, 2014). Not only in competitions but even during practice, this strategy can be applied due to the continuity of the process.…”

“…Most of the spots coaches, in their programs, utilize self-talk. According to sports psychology, this mental practice along with experience makes the performance better by raising the confidence level of athletes and eliminating the fear of failure (Zetou et al, 2014). According to Lepadatu (2012), as an effective tool, self-talk is part of the learning process (Robbins and Madrigal, 2016).…”