The Importance Of Self-Talk In Physical Education

Although there is no standard approach for implementing a self-talk program in a way that it enhances performance of athletes, there are general guidelines that physical educations ought to follow. First, the physical educator should identify the physical skill that needs to be developed and whether it involves gross or fine task. Doing so helps to ensure that the best choice of self-talk is selected and implemented. The type of skill, for instance, determines whether a physical educator will use instructional self-talk or motivational self-talk (Hatzigeorgiadis et al., 2008). Previous studies have shown that tasks or skills requiring endurance and strength, motivational self-talk is more effective than instructional self-talk. On the other

Rather, they tend to suggest that both motivational and instructional self-talk are effective when considering their specific impacts and functions and thus, they should be integrated to enhance performance in sports. The studies, however, have suggested that the instructional self-talk is more effective than motivational self-talk in developing specific skills, such as shooting. On the other hand, the studies have shown that motivational self-talk is more effective than instructional self-talk in enhancing effort and self-confidence (Kolovelonis, Goudas, & Dermitzakib, 2011). Despite this, some studies have found that motivational and instructional self-talk have equal impacts in enhancing development of specific skills in sports. A good example is the study conducted by Hatzigeorgiadis (2006) focusing on investigating the functions of motivational and instructional self-talk in enhancing performance in swimming sport. The researchers conducted the study on 26 respondents who were physical education students for a period of five days. The study involved testing the impact of motivational and instructional self-talk on the breaststroke leg drill. The results derived from the study indicated that both instructional and motivational self-talk are equally effective in enhancing atomicity, confidence, attention and anxiety control. The respondents, however, explained that motivational self-talk was more effective than instructional self-talk in enhancing effort (Hatzigeorgiadis,