Research on Women's Sports

The Effect of Directing the Attention of Instructional Self-Talk on the Motor Performance of Teenage Girls' Volleyball Service

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Shahzad Tahmasebi Boroujeni 1
Masoumeh Nasiri 2
Elahe Arab Ameri 2
Nikos Comoutos 3

1 , Department of Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences in Sport, Faculty of Sport Sciences and Health, University of Tehran

2 Department of Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences in Sport, Faculty of Sport Sciences and Health, University of Tehran

3 Department of Physical Education & Sport Sciences, University of Thessaly, 42100 Trikala, Greece

https://doi.org/10.22089/rws.2024.16274.1003
Abstract
The purpose of this research was the effect of directing the attention of instructional self-talk on the motor performance of teenage girls' volleyball service. The research method was this semi-experimental and its design included pre-test, post-test with a control group. The participants was 60 female high school students in Tarem city (13.50±0.98 years). First, the personal information questionnaire and the informed consent form were provided to the participants, and then according to the information of the questionnaire (lack of familiarity with the basic skill of service volleyball) and the hand superiority questionnaire of Edinburgh, the pre-test of the volleyball service was done. Based on the pre-test scores, the participants homogenously divided into 3 groups of 20: external self-talk, internal self-talk, and control. The results of Mixed ANOVA showed that the external self-talk group performed better than the internal self-talk group and the control group. Also, the results of Tukey's post hoc test showed that in the post-test and transfer stages, the external self-talk group obtained significantly higher scores than the other two groups in volleyball serve performance (P<0.05). However, between the two groups of internal self-talk and the control at two post-test times. Furthermore, no significant difference transfer (P>0.05) was seen. In a general conclusion, it can be said that self-talk, both alone and in interaction with attention, can be useful for increasing the level of motor skills. In addition, the current research supports and shows the limited action hypothesis and the overt processing hypothesis that focusing on the outcome of movement in the environment improves motor performance.

Keywords

Teenage Girls
Internal Instructional Self-Talk
External Instructional Self-Talk
Motor Performance

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Research on Women's Sports
Volume 1, Issue 1
Winter 2024
Pages 93-110

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