Self talk - what I say to myself in the last 500 meters!

Ok, so lets continue our psychological journey both into my rowing and the way psychology (sport psychology in particular) could be a way to improve my/your rowing. This post will focus on what we say to ourselves in training and in competition and how this might help or hinder performance.

As I was singling the other day, an altercation with some aggressive foliage on the bank led to some 'stability' issues and I vividly recall saying to myself 'oh s*&t I am going in...I am going in' as I flayed both arms and blades in the air and as I went rather over to stroke side. A moment later however I also remember saying to myself 'get it together....you've got this' which led to me getting back in control of the boat and staying upright and dry. I do think that is was this positive self-talk that enabled me to get back control of the boat, allowed me to compose myself, and allowed me to carry on. There was certainly a degree of luck involved here I have to admit but I do think, with hindsight, the second bit of talk controlled the panic and the boat. I suspect it was quite amusing to watch. Less amusing from my perspective.

Sport psychologists have been advocating the use of self-talk for many years, with a variety of purposes for this (Hatzigeorgiadis et al 2014). It might be we use it to boost confidence, to try to be overwhelmingly confident in a particular moment for example. There is also self-talk for skill execution, perfecting a technique via self-talk and also tactical/strategic reminders (Hardy, 2006). There are of course a variety of other reasons we might say certain things to ourselves, in fact it is likely we will use multiple self-talk strategies. I certainly say a great many number of things to myself when racing and training. Musing on this here it strikes me that I am not that positive, in fact I am very often chastising myself for some perceived error (and occasionally swearing at fellow crew mates if I perceive someone is late, the boat is unbalanced, I feel like having a pop at someone other than myself). Its all in my head so does it really matter?

From a research perspective I think we can say this does matter. Negative, critical self-talk is associated with poorer performance, and less satisfaction with your performance (Hatzigeorgiadis and Biddle, 2001). There are exceptions to this of course, where 'having a word with yourself' can be very helpful but more often than not critical words only increase our anxiety, pressure and make mistakes much more likely. The take home point here is we (yes, I do me you) do say things internally, we may not be aware of this all the time but we do this. So why not use this in a more productive and consistent way. Make the things you say to yourself work for you.

A final reflection of my own experience is related to the Ergo, both my friend and nemesis. Since starting rowing I have become rather obsessive about the erg. I love it, even when it takes me to a dark mental and physical space, I still love it (ok..love/hate). Strange isn't it (more on that in another blog post). I have never felt as fit as I do after a good few weeks of hard ergo training, I am constantly trying to beat my own times and distances (although going for PB's every time isn't such a great strategy) and the consistent improvement over the weeks and months that I have experienced makes me feel good. It is very hard though. Uber hard. Very very very.....very hard. I think I have used self-talk most consistently in my land based training rather than on the water. Experience helps an awful lot with the erg. When the going gets hard in the last 500m of a 2k or a 30 minute piece I draw on that experience, I say to myself (you have done this before....you can push for the end....and a few other well used phrases as well). It really helps me to keep going. If you haven't tried it yourself, have a go, its a simple strategy, its easy to implement and it can have a significant impact. It also has an impact on enjoyment in a more general sense, if you can control negative thoughts and be more positive, low and behold it tends to make you feel happier. Winner winner chicken dinner.

So you want to use self-talk. Here are a few simple tips for you:

- keep it simple, a few key words (3-4), maybe a short, concise sentence. Anything longer will be too difficult to recall accurately
- think of the purpose of the words. Are you trying to stay motivated? are you trying to keep an element of technique sharp. This should guide exactly what you say to yourself.
- think of when you will use it - if its the start of ergo you find hard then imagine what would best help you at the moment, a little confidence boost via a key phrase or two can work wonders with things like nerves and negative thought cycles
- some examples: say you are trying to deal with nerves at the start of a race - repeat to yourself, calmly - Ready - Focused - Strong - say this to yourself multiple times, over and over, controlling your breathing....very simple but can be enough to take the edge off your nerves and get you in a happier, more relaxed and ready psychologically state to put in a great performance!

Any questions or further tips required, do comment below. Thanks for reading!


References

Hardy, J. (2006) Speaking clearly: A critical review of the self-talk literature. Psychology of Sport and Exercise [online]. 7 (1), pp.81-97.

Hatzigeorgiadis, A., Zourbanos, N., Latinjak, A. and Theodorakis, Y. (2014). Self-talk. In Routledge Companion to Sport and Exercise Psychology: Global Perspectives and Fundamental Concepts. 372 - 385.

Hatzigeorgiadis, A., Galanis, E., Zourbanos, N. and Theodorakis, Y. (2014) Self-talk and Competitive Sport Performance. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology [online]. 26 (1), pp.82-95

Hatzigeorgiadis, A. and Biddle, S.J.H. (2001) Athletes' perceptions of how cognitive interference during competition influences concentration and effort. Anxiety, Stress & Coping [online]. 14 (4), pp.411-429.