The Phenomenology of Self-Talk In Golf

Yani Dickens, Ph.D., CC-AASPLicensed Clinical Psychologist

AASP Certified Sport Psychology Consultant

Director of Training, Counseling Services

United States University of Nevada, Reno

Inner Experiences are Essential to Successful Sport Performance

But exactly WHAT IS inner experience?

Sport psychology literatures says

Imagery

Emotion

Attention

Motivation

Self talk

Words said inside to self

Words said out loud to self

Assumptions About What Inner Experience is DRIVE Mental Skills Training Interventions

Imagery

Emotion and arousal management

Psyching-up

Relaxation

Attention

Attentional focus

Mindfulness

Motivation

Goal-setting

Cognitive techniques for self talk

instructional

motivational

But Wait! WHAT exactly IS inner experience?

Or HOW WELL do we understand the phenomena of inner experience?

And therefore HOW WELL do we understand self-talk?

Exploring Inner Experience

Observe Phenomena

Describe Phenomena

Control & Utilize

Phenomena

Exploring Inner Experience

Self-Report Describe & Quantify

Teach Mental Skills

Exploring Inner Experience

JUST ASK ‘EM (questionnaire

)

ADD ‘EM up (quant. stats.)

Teach Mental Skills

(accordingly)

Attention problems

Awareness problems

Memory problems

Communication problems

Comprehension problems

Reactivity problems

Conceptual problems

Methodological problems

Interpretation problems

At this point, how much have we missed?

Exploring Inner Experience Using Descriptive Experience Sampling

Momentary observation

Interview w/in 24 hrs.

Inform Intervention

s

Inner experience is present

Inner experienceis randomly sampled

Participants practice

Co-investigate inner experience

Video review & codingInner experienceIs recorded

Phenomena emerge

Phenomena NOT presupposed

Any and all phenomena are of interestBasic Research

Exploring Inner Experience Using Descriptive Experience Sampling

Thorough Momentary

Method

Better Describe & Quantify

Improved Mental Skills

Training

Then What is Inner Experiences During Sport Performance?

Descriptive Experience Sampling Method

DES uses a device that emits a random beep via an earpiece.

Participants record momentary inner experience immediately after the beep.

Participants are interviewed about these experiences within 24 hours, after which samples are coded.

Descriptive Experience Sample Method: Five Frequent Phenomena

DES is a reliable sampling method that has established 5FP:

Inner Speaking

Speaking words usually in one’s own natural inflected voice without external (real) sound

Inner Seeing

Seeing something in imagination that is not actually present

Unsymbolized Thinking

Thinking a particular, definite thought without awareness of that thought being conveyed in words, images or any other symbols

Feeling

Experiencing the aspects of an emotion

Sensory awareness

Being particularly aware of the sensory aspect of the environment (where that sensory experience is itself a primary focus)

Do People Know Characteristics of Their Own Inner Experience?

Measuring the 5FP: The Nevada Inner Experience Questionnaire (NIEQ)

1: How frequently do you talk to yourself in your inner voice?

6: Generally speaking, what portion of your inner experience is in inner speech (thinking in words)?

NIEQ Confirmatory Factor Analysis

NIEQ Concurrent Validationwith the Self-Talk Scale

r = .52

NIEQ and DES Correlations

*p < .05

Then What is Inner Experiences During Sport Performance?

Descriptive Experience Sampling Method

Random sampling

Momentary inner experiences

Interviews within 24 hours

Samples are coded.

Participants (N = 10)

Five highly-skilled (mean handicap = 4.2) & five moderately-skilled (mean handicap = 17.6) golfers.

Procedures

Golfers were trained in the DES method first collecting samples during daily life.

After training, golfers competed in a tournament created by the investigators.

94 random samples were collected during this tournament. 

What is Inner Experiences During Sport Performance?

Golf-Related Content 76%

Perceptual Awareness 26%

Inner Speech 24%

Mental Preparation Strategies 14%

Unsymbolized Thinking 13%

Inner Seeing 12%

Feeling 11%

Sensory Awareness 10%

Speaking Aloud 9%

Individual differences. Other than golf-related content, for every other category, at least one participant collected 0% of that inner experience type

What is Self-Talk During Sport Performance? Inner Speech

“better”

“I’m ready to quit”

“I’m glad I’m not a realtor”

“what a relief”

“You shouldn’t be wearing those”

“6”

“Man up!”

“no wonder I couldn’t see the ball”

“start it left edge, and it should work right”

“hard turf”

“A good swing’s gonna hurt”

“It's hot. We need to stop at that water jug before the next tee”

“disjointed”

“good pass”

“fairway, fairway, fairway”

“Nice and slow, nice and slow tempo”

“that nine iron was a bad shot; it’s time to smoke”

“bad shot”

“What is that wood?”

“it’s getting steamy”

“wow, that’s cool”

“tree’s in the way”

“too much adrenalin”

“not enough options for a good shot”

“He’s got a long putt”

“this is left to right”

“this shot is 71 yards”

“Look at that piece of shit!”

“you’re a real idiot”

“bullshit”

“fucking idiot” (or) “dumb ass”

What is Self-Talk During Sport Performance?

Speaking Aloud

To Self

“Damn, I hit it in the left trap”

“you fucking idiot” or “motherfucker” or “how could you hit the ball over there?!”

To others

“entitled”

“Samuel, what did you make?”

“Yeah, what about that handicap?”

What is Self-talk in During Performance?

Inner Speech 25%

Verbal, internally produced, usually to self

Speaking Aloud Total 9%

Speaking Aloud to Self 4%

Speaking Aloud to Others 5%

Self Talk 29%

Self talk during golf performance varied widely in content

Usually consisted of golf-related content 71%

What is Self-talk in During Performance?

Inner Speech

Speaking aloud to oneself

Golf-related & non-golf-related in content

Positive, negative, neutral, & mixed in content

Expletive & non-expletive in content

Motivational, technical/instructional, inquisitive, wishful, mental preparation, commentary, etc.

Occurs alone & co-occurs with other forms of inner experience

NOT

Speaking aloud to others

Imagery, Emotions, Sensations, etc.

New Understanding of Self Talk?

Literature says:

• “self-talk occurs whenever an individual thinks” (Williams & Leffingwell, 2002, p. 81)

• “anytime you think… you are in a sense talking to yourself” (Bunker & Williams, 1980, p. 236).

• We think that is not true. Thinking can take place without self talk.

• Self talk is common in golf performance… but…

• Performance can take place with and without self talk.

• One participant collected no self-talk

• Range 0 – 64%

• Self talk occurs in at least two ways, inner speech, speaking aloud (to oneself)

Conclusion

Athletes and non-athletes may be poor reporters of actual inner experience

Assumptions about inner experience may be limited, inaccurate, or entirely wrong

DES is a feasible method of sampling inner experience during golf performance

Training athletes to attend to, apprehend, and describe random samples of inner experience when it is happening yields ecologically valid, representative samples that enhances understanding of inner experience during performance

Inner experience during golf performance is richer and more multidimensional than athletes, non-athletes, and researchers may realize by merely using traditional self-report measures

Self talk during golf performance appears to consist of inner speech and speaking aloud to oneself

Self talk during golf performance appears to vary widely in content, but usually consisted of golf-related content

“Unless I would have had that beep, I probably couldn’t tell you”

“Somehow or another I knew you guys were going to ask me ‘Exactly what were you thinking about?’ And that’s kind of a strange thing because, unless I would have had that beep, I probably couldn’t tell you…. I would have never ever ever been able to tell you what I was thinking about.”

-”Mike”