Effects of Motivational Self-Talk on Self-Esteem and Competitive Anxiety in Elite Swimmer Players

Athletes always use a variety of training methods and psychological skills to reach to their full potential. motivational self-talk is one of the ways that athletes use optimum performance.So, The purpose of this study was to the effects of motivational self-talk on self-Esteem, and competitive anxiety in elite swimmers female players in Isfahan.

This quasi-experimental study was performed as a pre-test, post-test with the control group. The statistical population of this study was all elite female adult swimmer players in Isfahan city. Using systematic sampling, 40 people were selected and assigned to experimental (20) and control (20 people) groups. Experimental groups performed three sessions each week of motivational self-talk program (Theodorusky, 2000) for 8 weeks, but during this period the control group did not receive any psychological intervention. Subjects in each group were evaluated at the beginning and end of the study by standard Rosenberg Self-Esteem Questionnaire (1965), and Sports competitive anxiety (SCAT) for estimating the variables of the research. Data were analyzed using covariance analysis, multivariate covariance and Bonferroni's’ post hoc tests.

The results of this study indicated that the motivational self-talk factor has a significant effect on the variables of self-esteem and competitive anxiety in elite swimmer players (P <0.05).However, there was no significant difference between the amounts of motivational self-talk effects on these variables (P> 0.05).

Motivational self-talk improved the self-esteem and competitive anxiety variables, therefore, it is suggested that coaches and athletes use motivational self-talk methods to improve and develop exercise performance.