Application of Strategic Self-Talk: An Experimental Study on the Effects on Shooting Stability and Performance

International journal of kinesiology and sports science

article

Emmanouil Tzormpatzakis¹  Evangelos Galanis¹  Annitsa Chaldeaki¹  Antonis Hatzigeorgiadis¹ 

[1] Department of Physical Education and Sport Science, University of Thessaly

关键词: Self-Talk Mechanisms;    Attention;    Steadiness;    Pistol;   

DOI  :  10.7575/aiac.ijkss.v.10n.1p.52

来源: Australian International Academic Centre PTY. LTD.

【 摘 要 】

Background: Pistol shooting is a sport with high attentional demands. Strategic self-talk has beenshown to assist learning and increase performance, in particular due to its effects on attention.Objective: The current study aimed to examine the impact of a strategic self-talk intervention onthe learning of pistol shooting. Methods: An experimental study was designed and implemented.Forty sport sciences students with no experience in pistol shooting were randomly assigned toexperimental and control groups. The study took part in nine sessions, one for familiarization,two for baseline measurements, four for training, and two for final measurements. The shootingwas performed from a distance of five meters and recorded through the SCATT shooting system.Performance as Average Score (AS) and two stability variables, Average Length of Tracing(ALOT) and Stability of Aim (SOA), were recorded. Results: Repeated measures MANOVAshowed a significant multivariate group by measurement interaction. Pairwise comparisonsrevealed that (a) AS increased for both the experimental (p<.001) and the control group (p=.006),with the experimental group showing greater improvement, and (b) SOA and ALOT improvedfor the experimental group (p<.001 and p=.003, respectively) but not for the control group(p=.37 and p=.21, respectively). Conclusions: The increases in performance for both groupscan be attributed to the learning effect; however, the impact of self-talk was evidenced in thegreater performance improvement, but also in the improvement of the stability variables thatwere targeted through the instructional self-talk cues that were used. The greater performancechange for the self-talk group may be attributed to attentional mechanisms that brought about theimprovement of the stability parameters.

【 授权许可】

Unknown