Self-talk in the swimming pool: The effects of self-talk on thought content and performance on water-polo tasks

The present study examined the effect of instructional and motivational self-talk on the occurrence of interfering thoughts and performance on two water-polo tasks with similar characteristics performed in the same environment. Two experiments were conducted in the swimming pool, one involving a precision task (throwing a ball at target) and one involving a power task (throwing a ball for distance). In the first experiment (precision task), both self-talk groups improved their performance in comparison to the baseline measure, with participants using instructional self-talk improving more. In the second experiment (power task), only the motivational self-talk group improved its performance significantly. In both experiments the occurrence of interfering thoughts declined for both groups. The results of the study provide further support for the effectiveness of self-talk and give preliminary evidence regarding likely mechanisms through which self-talk influence performance, that is through indications that self-talk reduces thoughts not related to task execution, thus enhancing concentration to the task.