Valence, form, and content of self-talk predict sport type and level of performance

Abstract

In this paper, we aimed to test whether we could predict sport type (badminton or running) and marathon proficiency from the valence, form, and content of the athletes’ self-reported inner speech. Additionally, we wanted to assess the difference between self-talk during high intensity and low intensity exercise. The present study corroborated existing research – we were able to predict both sport type in Study 1 and intensity level as well as marathon proficiency in Study 2 from questionnaire data using machine learning models. In Study 1, we found that badminton players engage more in worry and anxiety-control while runners are more prone to task disengagement. Interestingly, it seemed in Study 2 that the more participants engaged in condensed, positive, and repetitive self-talk when not pushing themselves, the slower their fastest marathons and half marathons were. We discuss potential explanations for these findings and make suggestions for future research.

Interactive Effects on Motor Performance of Mindfulness, Performance Under Pressure, Self-Talk, and Motor Task Characteristics

“…The interaction we found between self-talk and pressure on both tasks met our expectation and echoed prior research showing that athletes under pressure tend to use self-talk to enhance their sports performance (Boudreault et al, 2018; Nedergaard et al, 2021). According to Beilock et al (2002; 2007), being under pressure distracts the performer’s attention from the required focus and impairs performance.…”

Self-talk Overcomes Choking under Pressure: An Intervention Study in Competition Based on Experimental and Mathematical Statistics Analysis

“…Meanwhile, badminton players have little time to decide where and what kind of shot they should play thus cause great pressure. Recent research compared self-talk across sport types and exploring how skill-level is related to performance found that, badminton players' self-talk was more characterized by self-regulated anxiety [15]. In the present study, we aimed to test whether self-talk could be effective in overcoming choking, and whether decisive self-talk will be more effective than other types of self-talk under such high pressure in the real competition situations.…”