Effects of self-talk on badminton short service

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of self-talk strategies on badminton short service performance. Previous research reported that self-talk yields benefits in badminton short serve performance when compared to the control condition. This study hypothesized that with the use of self-talk, and specifically motivational self-talk, improves short service performance when compared to instructional and no self-talk. In this study, 30 healthy Badminton players performed badminton short service under one control (no self-talk) and two experimental conditions (instructional and motivational self-talk). In the experimental conditions, participants were given cue words to use before performing the service. At the end of each condition, participants were required to fill in a Subjective Evaluation Questionnaire evaluating overall thoughts, feelings, performance and perceived effectiveness on the use of cue words. Findings showed significant differences between the no self-talk condition and motivational self-talk condition (p = 0.004). In conclusion, motivational self-talk better improves performance and in addition, provides more positive experience and satisfaction when compared to instructional and no self-talk.Bachelor of Science (Sport Science and Management