Strategic Self-Talk Assists Basketball Free Throw Performance Under Conditions of Physical Exertion

• Main Authors: Evangelos Galanis (Author), Antonis Hatzigeorgiadis (Author), Fedra Charachousi (Author), Alexander T. Latinjak (Author), Nikos Comoutos (Author), Yannis Theodorakis (Author)
• Format: Book
• Published: Frontiers Media S.A., 2022-06-01T00:00:00Z.
• Subjects: article
• Online Access: Connect to this object online.
• Notes: 2624-9367; 10.3389/fspor.2022.892046
• Keywords: shuttle run; exhaustion; self-talk mechanisms; attention; applied sport psychology; Sports; GV557-1198.995
• Source: Frontiers in Sports and Active Living, Vol 4 (2022)

The purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of a strategic self-talk intervention on basketball free throw performance under conditions of physical exertion. Forty-one male basketball players (Mage = 23.19 years) participated in the study. Following a baseline assessment, a 3-week intervention was implemented. During this period participants of the two groups practiced the same number of free throws in their training sessions; participants of the experimental group practiced using self-talk and developed personal free throw self-talk plans. In the final assessment, the participants repeated the free throw test following a typical shuttle run task causing increased physical exertion. The results showed that in the final assessment the self-talk group performed significantly better than the control group. Overall, the findings indicate that self-talk can be an effective strategy for basketball players when performing free throw under conditions of physical exertion, which is a typical situation in basketball games.