Cognitive Principles to Enhance Performance

Williams and Leffingwell (1996) suggest that self-talk can be used to correct bad habits, to focus attention, to modify intensity level, and increase self-confidence. To identify self-talk, they recommend that the athlete review previous events and imagine events in order to have access to their internal processes; written logs can be helpful in analyzing the self-talk identified. In addition, if the athlete has difficulty identifying self-talk, observations by a sport psychologist can be useful. Once the self-talk has been identified, the athlete can analyze it for irrational content by asking a series of questions: “Are the beliefs based on objective reality? Are they helpful to the athlete? Are they useful in reducing interpersonal conflicts? Do they help the athlete reach goals? Do they reduce emotional conflict?” If the answer to these questions is “no,” the athlete needs to work on modifying the irrational self-talk. Several techniques can be useful: 1) Firmly and deliberately stopping a thought; 2) Changing negative thoughts to more realistic or positive thoughts; 3) Countering negative self-statements; and 4) Reframing the irrational thoughts.

Goal Setting Principles

To achieve peak performance and competitive success, Weinberg (1996) suggests the importance of setting specific goals with target dates and strategies for achieving goals. He suggests that these goals should be written down, and should include both long and short-term goals, as well as goals for both practice and competition. The goals need to be realistic, but challenging, and need to be focused on performance, not winning. Finally, the athlete needs to develop concrete plans for achieving the goals with periodic feedback to assess effectiveness of the plan. Some common pitfalls to setting goals include not recognizing individual differences in setting goals, not setting measurable goals, and setting too many goals.

Guidelines for Using Imagery to Enhance Performance

Gould and Damarjian (1996) indicate that imagery requires extensive practice similar to physical skills. An athlete cannot expect performance to be enhanced by using imagery just prior to competition and not practicing it otherwise. To enhance imagery, visual, auditory, tactile, and kinesthetic senses need to be utilized; in particular, dynamic kinesthetic imagery, which is the internal experience of movement, needs to be emphasized. The athlete should learn to control the content of the images as well as to take both the internal and external perspectives and to use real time images. Imagery can be facilitated by being in a relaxed state which can be attained by the use of video or audiotapes. If the athlete is experiencing a particular physical skills problem, imagery can be used to imagine the problem area and to develop methods in overcoming it. Common problems in imagery training include having unrealistic expectations, lack of commitment to practice, and lack of coach support (Weinberg, 1996).

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