Effects of self-talk on 50m-sprint performance

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of self-talk strategies on 50m-sprint performance. 16 healthy sprinters from Track and Field (8 male and 8 female) performed 50m sprints under one control (no self-talk) and two experimental conditions (motivational and instructional self-talk). In the experimental conditions, participants were given cues to use before and during the sprints. Participants had to fill in a Subjective Evaluation Questionnaire after each trial. Significant differences were found between the no self-talk condition and motivational self-talk condition for gender (p < .005) and for level of participation (p < .005). Results revealed that motivational self-talk improves performance compared to instructional and no self-talk.