Self-talk in Sport

Athletes are naturally exposed to significant psychological challenges in sports, but do not wait helplessly for the assistance of sports psychologists or trainers. Instead, they practise one form or another of self-regulation. Self-talk in Sport explores one such self-regulatory strategy: self-talk, the inner voice that accompanies every human being throughout their lives. Over time, research has revealed many secrets of self-talk in sport, though many others remain unveiled. This book offers you the opportunity to discover the multiple identities of our self-talk, how the "inner coach" serves as a rational counterpart to the irrational self, and what we need to do to develop our inner voice to reach its maximum self-regulatory potential. There is a general need for concrete interventions in sport, exercise, and performance psychology. In addition, the autonomous functioning of people is a central aim of psychological interventions that align with positive psychology and focus on people's strengths rather than weaknesses. In this volume, researchers and applied practitioners are shown how they can use self-talk interventions to strengthen people's rational self-regulation in order to deal with a variety of situations that apply to both sport and other exercise and performance contexts. Since self-talk is a tangible result of cognitive processes and inner experiences that researchers and applied practitioners can barely access, Self-talk in Sport is a tool for sports psychologists to understand and interact with hidden parts within athletes that have a major impact on sport and exercise experiences and performance. A book demonstrating the diverse - both rational and irrational identities - of self-talk, as well as specific interventions to change the inner dialogue of athletes, is a fundamental piece in the education of sport scientists.

Alexander T. Latinjak is a senior lecturer and the course leader of the BSc (Hons) Sport and Performance Psychology at the University of Suffolk, and visiting researcher at the EUSES Schools of Health and Sports Sciences in Catalonia. Although Alexander wrote his dissertation on strategic self-talk interventions for tennis players, he has recently been more intensively involved in the study of spontaneous and goal-directed self-talk. His research led to the design of a reflexive self-talk intervention and the development of a conceptualisation of self-talk based on the distinction between organic and strategic self-talk. Antonis Hatzigeorgiadis is a professor at the Department of Physical Education and Sport Science at the University of Thessaly, and director of the postgraduate programme Psychology of Physical Education and Sport. His main research interest has been self-talk, on which he has authored more than 35 articles and six book chapters. He is Associate Editor at Sport, Exercise and Sport Psychology, and has served as member of the managing council of the European Federation of Sport and Exercise Psychology for 12 years.

1. Locating self-talk in the knowledge map of sport and exercise psychology 2. Pieces of the self-talk jigsaw puzzle: An introduction 3. Assessment methods for organic self-talk 4. Metacognition and goal-directed self-talk 5. Self-talk and emotion regulation 6. Organic self-talk antecedents: An interpretative review and implications for practice 7. The reflexive self-talk intervention: Detailed procedures 8. Rational self-talk: A rational emotive behaviour therapy (REBT) perspective 9. Strategic self-talk interventions 10. Self-talk mechanisms 11. Self-talk interventions in tennis and golf 12. Self-talk interventions in team-sport settings 13. Self-talk and endurance sports 14. Self-talk in physical education: Motivational aspects and a guide for physical education teachers 15. Contesting the role of self-talk in sport psychology in views of mindfulness, flow, and mind wandering Epilogue: Some facts and personal reflections on my self-talk