Improve your mental toughness with self-talk

Mental toughness has become a buzzword of sorts. It has been used to describe how resilient an athlete might be. Is it really a thing? Or is it just “coach speak.”

A definition introduced in 2009 defined mental toughness as a collection of experientially developed and inherent sport-specific and sport general values.

Still confused? I get it.

Let’s try it this way. Athletes who have a high level of mental toughness have the ability to regulate their emotions. They are able to get rid of negative thoughts and are able to reduce their competition anxiety.

Mental toughness is a mental skill that is attributed to the success of high-level athletes from NCAA champions to Olympic gold medal winners.

But if you have any type of anxiety before or during your competition, you aren’t alone. If you have experienced it, you know it can be detrimental to your performance. Anxiety can alter an athlete’s focus and ruin a pre-game routine. But the question is, how can you deal with it so it doesn’t negatively impact your game?

One way to improve your mental toughness and reduce anxiety is through self-talk. You might already use self-talk and not realize it. Tennis players, for example, are notorious for using it during matches. After all, they are out there alone, with no help or positive influence, except for maybe a doubles partner.

In this respect, self-talk can be especially beneficial for athletes who don’t have a coach available to, well, coach during their competition. These are sports like tennis, cross country, track, golf—you get the idea. But it can be used in all sports.

If you haven’t tried this yourself, you have probably seen a tennis player win a big point and follow it up with a verbal, “Let’s go!”

Maybe that same athlete loses a crucial point or double faults on a serve. In that case, you might hear, “Why can’t you get the ball in?!” or “Stay focused!” Or maybe it’s a simple, “I’m cooked.” By the way, this would be a form of negative self-talk.

The point is, these are all forms of self-talk, and depending on how you use it, it could be the difference in keeping your emotions in check or sending you into a downward spiral.

Spontaneous self-talk is an uncontrolled or unplanned form of self-talk. It usually happens when the athlete verbalizes exactly what is on their mind, like the examples above. This could be either negative or positive.

Goal-directed self-talk is a planned form of self-talk that can be used more strategically. It can be used as a reminder, like, “Stay calm,” or “I believe.” You might even come up with your own cue words to help remind yourself to stay positive in stressful moments.

Think of the case of an endurance runner approaching the last half of the race. Mental fatigue starts to set in. Everything hurts, legs are tired, and all the runner can think about is collapsing and crawling to the finish line. But she remembers what she talked to her mental performance coach about a few weeks ago and begins to tell herself that she can do this. Before she realizes it, she has crossed the finish line with a new PR. But how did it happen?

The use of strategic motivational self-talk can not only reduce the negative effects of mental fatigue, but has been proven to enhance overall endurance performance. Research has shown that by using self-talk strategies, athletes can reduce the mental demands of their sport, especially in stressful situations.  

This is something that can be utilized in a number of ways, but the results aren’t always immediate. It is a strategy that should be practiced over time. Research has shown that with practice, negative thoughts can be used in a positive way. In other words, you can learn to control negative thoughts so they don’t lead to negative results during competition.

By doing this, you will be able to regain psychological control to become that mentally tough performer you need to be in crucial situations.