Psychological Skills Training: Self-Talk Skills

written by Dr. Christine Lottes

Psychological Skills Training series: previous issues

1. TRAINING YOUR ATHLETES TO BE MENTALLY TOUGH
2. MENTAL TRAINING TOOLS
3. GOAL SETTING AND SELF-CONFIDENCE
4. IMAGERY
5. PSYCHOLOGICAL SKILLS TRAINING: RELAXATION AND ENERGIZATION

Athletes' thoughts can either enhance or hinder performance. Continuing our Psychological Skills Training series in pelinks4u, today's article provides a script for the coach and 2 reproducible handouts (one a script for the coach plus a handout for athletes). We will look at how athletes can successfully manage their self-talk.

Coach’s Script for: Self-Talk Skills

Bring to practice: coach's script, a copy of the athlete's handout for each athlete (follows the coach's script), pencils or pens, chalk.

SELF-TALK
This lesson will take two hours. It can be broken up into 2 different sessions.

Review:

• Relaxation means decreasing unwanted muscular tension & calming the mind.
• Total relaxation is a longer strategy that helps athletes relax completely. Rapid relaxation is an abbreviated technique that uses a cue word to relax quickly.
• Relaxation includes deep breathing, imagery, relaxation, muscle relaxation and cue words.
• Energization helps athletes control arousal, enhance concentration and elevates confidence, particularly when they are tired, encountering adversity, or dealing with low energy levels.
• Energization includes psych-up breathing, imagery energization, muscle activation and cue words.
• The cued words are associated with feelings of high energy, and in rapid energization can occur in 3-5 seconds.

Check-up from First Session:

• Look in your notes from the end of our first session where you listed an action you'd take to deal with something you were concerned about. Did you do it? Volunteers to share. Continue with taking action with things you can control.

Today: Self-Talk

• Self-talk is the steady stream of thoughts and internal dialogue that goes on in our heads almost constantly. Your thoughts have a major impact on your mood, emotions and performance.
• Make a list of thoughts you had so far today:
  • _______________________________________________________
  • _______________________________________________________
  • _______________________________________________________
• To make self-talk work for you, you want to increase positive thoughts and decrease negative thoughts as your thoughts will affect your sport performance and all other areas of your life.
• Positive self-talk leads to a flow mind-set in which you will excel athletically.
• Negative self-talk leads to a choking mind-set in which irrational thoughts can cause you to underachieve.
• When an event happens to you, you have beliefs about the situation - how you interpret what has happened. This interpretation of the situation determines your emotions and behavior to a much greater extent than does the situation itself.
• Let's look at an example of this. (Coach, you can rewrite this for your sport....)

Depending on the age of your athletes, either do the following together as a team or have each athlete complete his/her own. If completed individually, take them home and check them over, make corrections, etc.

• The basic principle of self-talk is that we can't always control what happens to us, but we can control how we respond to uncontrollable events.
• Our self-talk comes from either positive or negative thinking.
• Positive thoughts help performance while negative thoughts hurt performance.
• We'll call positive thought patterns smart-talk.
  • Eight rules of smart-talk
    1. Be an optimist, not a pessimist: self-talk is a choice. Focus on what you can control, not on what you can't.
    2. Remain realistic and objective: make goals you can achieve.
    3. Focus on the present, not the past or future: it is the only thing you can control.
    4. Appraise problems as challenges rather than threats: this keeps you motivated and performing up to your capabilities.
    5. View successes as replicable and failures as surmountable: view success as due to ability and effort. Attribute failure to factors you can control such as effort level (I'll work harder next practice), skill development (I can learn to read my opponent better) and mental preparation (next time I'll improve my focus).
    6. Concentrate on process, not outcome: focus self-talk on process goals - hard work, mental preparation, skill and strategy development - that you can control and will lead to outcome goals. Ex. In the seconds before the penalty corner concentrate on "stopping the ball and follow-through on the shot" or "explode out, stick-to-stick" or "explode out, set, ball" or "explode back (from 50) and into position." (NOTE to Coach: Change this to line up with the Self-Talk Model you revised for your sport.)
    7. Concentrate on things you can control: Can't control people and some events (opponent's behavior, officials' decisions, playing conditions). Can control your emotions and behavior.
    8. Separate your performance from your self-worth: Your worth has nothing to do with how you perform. It has everything to do with who you are as a unique creation who is loved regardless of your performance.
• Negative Thought Patterns: watch for distorted thinking and irrational beliefs.
• Distorted Thinking: catastrophizing (expecting the worst and exaggerating the consequences), over-generalization (just because you make a mistake you think that you always mess up), blaming (holding others responsible for negative events in my life), mustification (things must be my way) and polarized thinking (one way or another- I'm a success or a failure).
• Irrational Beliefs: perfectionism (I have to never make mistakes), fear of failure (some failure is normal), social approval (everyone must like me), equity (life must be fair, I should play well and get the rewards I deserve if I work hard) and social comparison (putting too much importance on largely uncontrollable outcomes, such as winning and outperforming others rather than concentrating on controllable factors such as playing your best.)
• Optimizing Self-Talk:
  • Awareness of current self-talk patterns
    1. Imagery recall: Close eyes and think about a competition that you played very well. Now write down some specific thoughts you had during the competition that helped you succeed. Now think about a poor performance. Now write down your thoughts during that competition. Compare the two lists and identify positive and negative self-talk patterns that most affect your performance. Use Self-Talk Log.
    2. Negative Thought Counts: On your own- Put a number of paper clips, pennies or sunflower seeds in a pocket, Each time you catch yourself using a negative thought, move one item to a different pocket.
    3. Goal is for negative thoughts to decrease.
  • Post practice and Competition Logs - see me if want to work on this area more and I'll set this up for you. See below for Positive Mental Attitude Self-Talk Log.
  • Program Positive Thoughts: increases confidence, improves concentration and focus, enhances motivation, controls stress and so increases performance.

• Positive affirmations: I'm a talented athlete with the skills to get the job done.
• Team mottos or Motivational slogans: "Footwork is the key to success." "Suffocating defense." "No less than all."
• Cue words: "relax," "ball," "one play at a time," "I play well every time I take the field," " smooth swing," "stick with what's working," "hustle." (Coach, you can rewrite these for your sport...)
  • Reframe Negative Thinking: Negative thoughts will still occur and can lead to negative emotions and sub par performance. To correct them follow the "3 Ds" of reframing:
    1. Detect negative, unproductive or irrational thinking: what was the thought that preceded feelings of stress or other negative emotions?
    2. Disrupt negative thoughts by either thought stopping or thought changing: Say "Stop" and think of a red stop sign, red flag or flashing red lights. Or, use a behavioral cue - snap finger or snap a rubber band when have a negative thought. Thought changing works like a TV remote control to simply change the channel from one with negative thoughts to another that is more positive and productive.
    3. Dispute negative thoughts by using effective counter-arguments. They function like a good lawyer, putting faculty beliefs on trial, refuting them with logical arguments and identifying logical, realistic, productive thoughts to take their place. Ex. I want more playing time and I worry that my coach doesn’t like me. A counterargument will reduce my anxiety- “I can’t control what my coach thinks or how much she decides to play me. I need to concentrate on what I can control and play my best by focusing on footwork and positioning when I don’t have the ball.” (Coach, you can rewrite this for your sport...)
• Do Worksheet for Reframing Thoughts.

Adapted, by permission, from K. Ravizza and T. Hanson, 1995, Heads up baseball: Playing the game one pitch at a time (Indianapolis, IN: Masters Press), 3d, by permission of the McGraw-Hill Companies. From D. Burton and T. Raedeke, 2008, Sport Psychology for Coaches (Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics).

• Develop a self-talk script:

Purposes and Thoughts for Smart-Talk Scripts

Directions: Select the main purpose for your smart-talk script from section 1. You may select one purpose, all seven, or any number in between. Next, for each purpose, select from section 2 any of the specific thoughts, affirmations, or counter-arguments that convey the nature of that purpose for you. You can also use your own thoughts or borrow ideas from other sources. Write a smart-talk script based on these thoughts.

Section 1: Purposes for Script Development

1. Remind yourself of your assets, strengths, and desirable personal qualities.
2. Establish priorities and goals as well as action plans for how to achieve them.
3. Recall past successes, particularly in similar situations or when overcoming obstacles, failure, or adversity.
4. Emphasize the quantity and quality of your preparation.
5. Appraise all situations as challenges rather than threats and implement effective problem-solving strategies.
6. Reframe negative thoughts.
7. Attribute success to hard work and improving ability and failure to internal/controllable/unstable factors such as the need to try harder, to improve your mental preparation, or to develop your skills more fully.

Section 2: Sample Positive Thoughts, Affirmations, and Counter-arguments

1. Reminders of Assets, Strengths, and Desirable Personal Qualities

1. I'm a talented person with skills and abilities that allow me to be as successful as I want to be in life.
2. Ultimately I'll be judged by who I am, not by what I accomplish.
3. I have the ability to make myself into a better performer who can help my team in many ways.
4. I have rich, rewarding relationships with my close friends and family.
5. I like who I am and enjoy being me. I like the person I see in the mirror.

2. Priorities and Goals Plus Action Plans to Achieve Them

1. I have a dream or vision of what I want in life
2. I have set my goals, established my priorities, and developed action plans to make them a reality.
3. Dreams become reality through hard work and sacrifice.
4. I have the time, energy, and wisdom to accomplish all my goals.
5. This is a "can do," "will do," and "get things done" day.

3. Remember Past Successes in Similar Situations or How You Overcome Adversity

1. I have been very successful in similar situations in the past.
2. I have overcome difficult obstacles in the past and I can do it again.
3. Failure makes me stronger by helping to identify areas where I need to improve.
4. I know it's only a matter of time until my hard work pays off and I become successful.
5. Overcoming failure and adversity requires a commitment to work even harder and an effective plan to get better and eliminate my weaknesses.

4. Recall the Quantity and Quality of Preparation

1. Nobody works harder than I do, and at crunch time, I'll be in better condition and more willing to pay the price than my opponent.
2. My physical, mental, and technical and tactical training were carefully designed to prepare me perfectly to excel in this competition.
3. My coach has taught me to understand my opponent's game and to counter these tactics successfully.
4. I have prepared myself well to maximize my strengths and minimize my weaknesses.
5. I get a little bit better every day in practice and move a step closer to being the best I can be.

5. Appraise Situations as Challenges, Not Threats, and Problem-Solve Effectively

1. Everyone encounters failure and adversity. Champions rise above adversity by viewing problems as opportunities for excellence.
2. I recognize that mistakes are a normal part of learning. As long as I'm learning and trying to get better, mistakes are inevitable. I will look at each mistake as an opportunity to learn and grow as I strive for excellence.
3. I will approach each problem as a challenge - an opportunity to learn and get better as a person and as an athlete.
4. No matter how bleak the outlook or how difficult the obstacle, I will accept the challenge to perform my best and come up with a strategy that will allow me to be successful.
5. I take constructive criticism well, using that feedback to make myself a better person and athlete.

6. Reframe Negative Thoughts

1. I'll concentrate on doing my best right now because I can't change what has happened in the past or what may happen in the future. All I can do is strive for excellence at this moment.
2. I accept what I can't change or control. I can't control what others think of me or how they play. I can't control my God-given ability or how fast I learn skills. I can't control official's decisions, playing conditions, or luck. I can control my own effort level, attitude, mood, and performance. I'll concentrate on what I can control and not worry about what I cannot control.
3. Life is often unfair, and that is OK. I will continue to work hard because persistence pays off in the long run.
4. I can't control what others think and how they behave. people can find fault with even Hall-of-Fame performers. i will strive to please myself and enjoy competing. The person I have to answer to is the one in the mirror.
5. Playing poorly is disappointing but not awful or unbearable. My life will go on, even if I don't play well. I will try to learn from my mistakes so that I can be more successful in the future.

7. Attribute Success to Hard Work, and Failure to Low Effort or the Need to Develop Skills

1. Working hard and developing my skills will allow me to continue to achieve success as I progress up the competitive ladder.
2. I know my hard work and consistent practice have paid dividends and allowed me to achieve the success I've had.
3. This failure is temporary and can be overcome with hard work and persistent skill development.
4. All failure is surmountable with enough time, patience, hard work, and careful planning.
5. When confronted with failure, I focus on the things I can control such as trying harder, getting better prepared mentally, developing my skills more fully, and enjoying the opportunity to test my skills.

From D. Burton and T. Raedeke, 2008, Sport Psychology for Coaches (Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics)

• Read your script, or record it and play it 4-5 times per day. Prime times to read or play scripts include first thing in the morning, last think at night, on the way to class, during study breaks, and before and after practice.
• When a negative thought occurs, remember the three Ds of the reframing process: Detect, Disrupt and Dispute each negative thought and replace it with one that is more positive and productive. Refer to chart of Self-Talk Dos and Don'ts.
• Keep a list of negative situations they have difficulty reframing. Several times a week intensely imagine one and the corresponding negative emotions before using reframing skills to counter faulty thinking. Can build counter-arguments for situations that are particularly problematic into their smart-talk scripts.
• When utilizing Self-Talk in practice or games, here as some helpful "Dos and Don'ts."

Self-Talk Dos and Don'ts

From D. Burton and T. Raedeke, 2008, Sport Psychology for Coaches (Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics)

Summary

• Self-talk is the steady stream of thoughts and internal dialogue that goes on in our heads almost constantly. Your thoughts have a major impact on your mood, emotions and performance.
• The ABCs of self-talk describe how thoughts affect emotions and behaviors. A= activating event; B= your belief or interpretation of the situation and it determines your emotions and behavior to a much greater extent than the situation itself does; C= is the consequence - how you feel and act afterward.
• Successful self-talk requires recognizing and changing negative thoughts.
• You can combat distorted and irrational thinking by using counter-arguments to reframe your thoughts.
• The best way to program positive self-talk is to develop a short, smart-talk script and read or play it 4-5 times daily.
• To reframe a negative thought use the three Ds - detecting, disrupting, and disputing negative thoughts.

Upcoming June/July article on Mental Training
In the June/July edition of pelinks4u we will be discussing energy management. Energy Management utilizes either relaxation or energization (see December issue of pelinks4u for how to train athletes in relaxation/energization) to get into an optimal energy zone for practice and competition. A script for the coach and a reproducible handout for athletes will be provided.

Coaches: Download this Article Here!

Download Athletes Handout Here!

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