Principles of Self-Talk in Sport Settings: Theory, Research, and Practice

This book examines the theory and practice of self-talk in sports performance, with a special emphasis on approaches that move beyond linear, cognitively-focused understandings of self-talk.

Self-talk generally begins when children are 2-3 years of age and continues into adulthood, as people talk to themselves both internally and out loud. Self-talk has drawn the interest of sport psychology professionals, researchers, athletes, and coaches who are eager to understand the origins and correlates of self-talk, how self-talk affects them, and how self-talk can be used to enhance sport performance.

Starting from a strong theoretical foundation and addressing self-talk in sport myths, this volume moves on to one of the greatest challenges in sport self-talk literature, the crisis of validity of self-talk measurement tools, and provides direction and examples of valid and reliable tools for sport self-talk research. Chapters bring together authors from diverse theoretical backgrounds and fields, and offer tools for coaches and mental health providers to measure self-talk, and examine different approaches to self-talk, including ecological and embodied cognition, and draw important links between self-talk and other areas of cognitive functioning, such as emotion regulation.

Jordan Thibodeaux, PhD, earned his PhD in developmental psychology from George Mason University. He is a developmental psychologist and sport psychology researcher with expertise in youth sport. His work on self-talk in youth tennis players has been published in Psychology of Sport and Exercise and Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport. In addition, he has published work on private speech and self-regulation in Cognitive Development. He is currently an assistant professor of psychology at Arkansas Tech University, Russellville, AR. He is an American Psychological Association (APA) member of Developmental Psychology (Division 7) and the Society of Sport, Exercise, & Performance Psychology (Division 47), and a member of the Society for Research in Child Development.

Judy L. Van Raalte, PhD, earned her PhD in social psychology from Arizona State University. She is a Certified Mental Performance Consultant (CMPC) and listed in the United States Olympic Committee Sport Psychology Registry. She is the co-editor of the three editions of the APA book Exploring Sport and Exercise Psychology, has presented at conferences in 18 countries, and published more than 100 articles in peer-reviewed journals. Her research has been funded by the National Institutes of Mental Health, the NCAA, and the International Tennis Federation. Van Raalte served as president of the APA’s Society of Sport, Exercise & Performance Psychology (APA Division 47) and vice president of the International Society of Sport Psychology. She is a fellow of APA, AASP, and the International Society of Sport Psychology (ISSP).

Yani Dickens, PhD, earned his PhD in clinical psychology from University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He is a Nevada licensed psychologist and Certified Mental Performance Consultant (CMPC). He has worked for the University of Nevada, Reno Counseling Services since 2008. As the director of training at the Counseling Services, he organizes supervision, training, and education for one of the largest mental health training programs in Nevada, which includes sport psychology emphasis training, and he founded the Counseling Services APA-accredited doctoral psychology internship. As the associate director, he consults the Counseling Services leadership team on internal and external operations. His research focuses on descriptive experience sampling in athletes, and his work has been published in The Sport Psychologist, Behavior Modification, and Eating Disorders: The Journal of Treatment and Prevention.