Self-Talk Strategies and Techniques

Self-Talk

• Self-talk can be positive or negative
• Positive self-talk enhances self-esteem, motivation, attention, and performance
• Negative self-talk is critical and self-demeaning, it is counterproductive and anxiety-producing

How Self-Talk Works

• Thoughts shape emotional responses to events
• Events themselves do not cause depression, anger, anxiety, hopelessness, or frustration
• It is the interpretation of an event that determines the response

Uses of Self-Talk

• Positive self-talk is crucial for concentration
• Self-talk can used for skill acquisition, breaking bad habits, initiating action, and sustaining effort

Techniques to Improve Self-Talk

• Thought stopping involves concentrating on an undesired thought briefly, then using a cue or trigger to stop it
• Changing negative self-talk to positive self-talk involves listing and recognizing negative self-talk, substituting it with positive statements, and practicing in different situations

Assessing Attentional Skills

• Nideffer’s distinctions of attentional focus as internal or external and broad or narrow is useful for assessing attentional skills
• People have different attentional styles that contribute to differences in the quality of performance

Test of Attentional and Interpersonal Style (TAIS)

• The TAIS is a test that measures a person's attentional style
• There are 17 subscales, six of which measure attentional style
• Three of the scales indicate aspects of effective focusing (broad-external, broad-internal, and narrow focus) and three assess aspects of ineffective focusing (external overload, internal overload, reduced focus)

Effective Versus Ineffective Attentional Styles

• People who concentrate well (effective attenders) deal well with simultaneous stimuli from external and internal sources
• They have high scores on broad-external and broad-internal focusing and can effectively switch their attention from broad to narrow focus when necessary
• They are also low on the three measures of ineffective attention, which means they can attend to many stimuli (both internal and external) and not become overloaded with information
• In contrast, people who don't concentrate well (ineffective attenders) tend to become confused and overloaded by multiple stimuli

Eye Control

• The key to eye control is to make sure your eyes do not wander to irrelevant cues
• Keep your eyes on the floor, focus on the equipment, or focus on a spot on the wall
• Preventing your eyes from wandering is crucial for maintaining focus and avoiding distractions

Stay Focused in the Present

• Staying in the present requires a focused concentration throughout the event
• It's okay to take an occasional brief mental break during stops in the action
• It is important then to have a cue word like focus to help bring you back into the present when it's time to start competing again

Exercises to Improve Concentration

• Learning to shift attention

  • Pay attention to what you hear
  • Become aware of body sensations
  • Turn your attention to your own thoughts and emotions
  • Open your eyes and pick an object across the room, practice widening and narrowing your focus of attention

• Learning to maintain focus

  • Find a quiet place with no distractions and choose an object to focus on
  • Hold the object in your hands and examine it in great detail
  • Focus your attention on the object, examining it in great detail