Self Talk

Self-talk includes all the purposeful and random thoughts that run through the athlete’s mind, the continual chatter of things said silently and out loud. Self-talk can be positive. Athletes can direct their self-talk toward what they want to do and where they want to focus. Self-talk can motivate, and, if developed purposefully, it can serve numerous other beneficial functions. Unfortunately, self-talk can also be negative and damaging to performance (GIGO, or “garbage in, garbage out”). In fact, when left untrained, self-talk often becomes negative and critical. Therefore, the athlete must learn to manage his or her internal dialogue to keep it beneficial to performance.

As with other mental skills, the first step is awareness. Athletes need to become aware of their inner voices—what they tend to say to themselves silently and out loud and how this affects performance. Keep in mind that what may be negative and damaging to one athlete may be motivational and beneficial to another athlete.

Once aware of their self-talk and its affect on performance, athletes need to develop strategies to manage negative self-talk. One common technique used by athletes is “thought stopping,” which entails the following:

* Identify negative thoughts and the situations in which they typically occur.
* Practice stopping the thoughts or “parking” the thoughts.

Replace the negative thoughts with positive thoughts, cue words, or images. Identify positive replacement thoughts in advance. The keys to thought stopping are being aware of common negative talk; stopping the thought; and filling the void with positive, productive thoughts.

Another technique for managing negative self-talk is for athletes to identify, in advance, what they want to say or reinforce to themselves at critical points in practice and competition. Then, instead of waiting anxiously for negative thoughts to occur, the athlete automatically uses the preplanned positive self-talk. For example, an athlete who typically has defeating thoughts in the middle segment of the 1,500-meter race can develop a plan to automatically say to him- or herself, “relax, take it easy” or “smooth stroke,” during this part of the race, regardless of how he or she is feeling.

Although it may appear that positive self-talk is most important during competition, it is equally important during practice and, therefore, must be monitored and practiced during training. Concentrating on positive self-talk in practice allows for quality training and provides an opportunity to practice this important skill. Athletes must accept that they will experience doubts and fears. They can overcome these doubts by continually reinforcing positive, productive thoughts not just prior to competition but also on a daily basis so that positive self-talk becomes habitual. In preparation for competitions, the athlete can mentally rehearse the cue words or self-talk he or she will use throughout the race. When needed during the race, athletes can trust their training by quieting their negative self-talk and letting their bodies perform.

Article obtained on 2/17/2011 at 8:58 p.m. from USA Swimming.org
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