Self-affirmation helps you excel in sports
Albuquerque Express:
Positive self-talk while playing a sport is likely to improve your performance, researchers say.
In fact, the study was born out of an on-field experience of one of the researchers.
Back on the high school soccer field, poised to take a crucial penalty kick, sports psychologist Antonis Hatzigeorgiadis recalls: ‘I was the captain and never missed those types of shots. Then I had that thought striking me that it was not going to be good.
‘I knew I was going to miss,’ he recalls, ‘and I did miss.’ Even then, he could see that his mind had a big effect on his body.
From these unhappy experiences evolved Hatzigeorgiadis’ interest in the psychology of sport – the link between one’s thoughts and performance, reports the journal Perspectives on Psychological Science.
‘We know this strategy works, and it works in sports,’ says Hatzigeorgiadis. But what makes it work better, and in what situations?
Read the whole story: Albuquerque Express
APS regularly opens certain online articles for discussion on our website. Effective February 2021, you must be a logged-in APS member to post comments. By posting a comment, you agree to our Community Guidelines and the display of your profile information, including your name and affiliation. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations present in article comments are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the views of APS or the article’s author. For more information, please see our Community Guidelines.
Please login with your APS account to comment.