REF-632 · Hatzigeorgiadis, Zourbanos, Galanis & Theodorakis, 2011 · Perspectives on Psychological Science, · Paper · PubMed
Self-talk works: across 32 studies (62 effect sizes) a moderate ES of 0.48, larger for fine-motor and novel tasks and when athletes are trained in it
With imagery and stress-management as companion skills
Key Findings
Self-talk interventions improved task performance: positive moderate effect size, ES = 0.48, across 32 studies and 62 effect sizes.
Moderators: self-talk was more effective for relatively fine (precision) than gross motor tasks, and for novel than well-learned tasks; instructional self-talk beat motivational self-talk for fine tasks, and instructional self-talk worked better for fine than for gross tasks; interventions that included self-talk training were more effective than those without.
Not from this paper (related work; each checked against its own abstract): Simonsmeier 2021 meta-analysis of imagery in sport (DOI 10.1080/1750984X.2020.1780627) — overall medium effect, d = 0.431 (95% CI 0.298–0.563), on motor performance, motivational and affective outcomes; imagery plus physical practice beat physical practice alone, and effectiveness rose with the intensity of imagery training.Rumbold 2012 systematic review (DOI 10.1037/a0026628) — 64 studies of cognitive (11), multimodal (44) and alternative (9) stress-management interventions in competitive athletes; in general they were associated with an optimised stress experience and enhanced performance, moderated by design features.
Practical Application
In 32 studies self-talk raised performance by a moderate ES of 0.48, most for fine-motor and new tasks and when it was actually trained. Teach cued self-talk (instructional cues for precision and new skills) and rehearse the cues in training, not on race day. For effortful gross endurance work the meta-analysis shows smaller effects; motivational cues there are the base's own practice, not a finding of this paper.
Program imagery as deliberate practice paired with the physical session (brief, vivid, first-person) — Simonsmeier 2021 found imagery + physical practice beat physical practice alone, and more imagery training gave larger effects.
Give an arousal-regulation toolkit (breathing/relaxation to bring arousal down; activation cues to bring it up) plus a simple pre-performance routine — stress-management interventions were generally associated with better stress experience and performance (Rumbold 2012). (The specific toolkit is the base's own practice.)
These are performance-psychology skills for healthy athletes — distinct from clinical anxiety/depression, which is referred (REF-633).
Limitations
Many lab or single-session studies with modest samples; heterogeneous moderate effect; adjuncts, not substitutes for physical training; publication bias plausible.
How this entry was checked and changed
Content correction 2026-09-27
Imagery "small-to-moderate" -> medium, d = 0.431 (Simonsmeier 2021 abstract); Rumbold 2012 given with its study counts; both labelled as related work.
"Motivational self-talk for effortful gross tasks" relabelled as the base's own practice — the abstract shows smaller effects for gross tasks and no motivational-beats-instructional finding; Sport line normalised.