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The Effects of a Strategic Instructional Self-Talk Intervention on Performance in a Complex Tennis Rally
Evangelos Galanis1, Polydoros Kouvarakis1, Olga Kouli2
1Department of Physical Education and Sport Science, University of Thessaly, 421 00 Trikala, Greece.
Behavioral Sciences (Basel, Switzerland)
|January 28, 2026
Summary
Strategic self-talk significantly improved tennis performance in young beginners. The intervention group showed better stroke execution and rally scores compared to the control group after five weeks.
Area of Science:
- Sports Psychology
- Motor Skill Acquisition
- Cognitive Performance in Athletics
Background:
- Self-talk is a cognitive strategy used by athletes.
- Instructional self-talk can guide motor skill execution.
- The impact of strategic self-talk on complex sports skills requires further investigation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the effectiveness of a strategic self-talk intervention on tennis performance.
- To assess the influence of narrow internal instructional self-talk on beginner tennis players.
- To determine if self-talk enhances complex multi-stroke tennis tasks.
Main Methods:
- A pre/post quasi-experimental design with 50 young beginner tennis players.
- Intervention group received strategic self-talk training; control group did not.
- Performance was measured using tennis stroke tests and rally scores over five weeks.
Main Results:
- Significant improvements in all tennis strokes for the self-talk group compared to the control group.
- The self-talk group demonstrated superior performance in the final assessment.
- Higher total rally scores were achieved by the intervention group.
Conclusions:
- Strategic self-talk is an effective intervention for enhancing complex tennis performance.
- Self-talk may facilitate movement sequences by improving attentional shifting.
- Practitioners should consider strategic self-talk for sports demanding high attentional control.
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