'Think Aloud’ as a facilitator of self-regulation in golfers

Think Aloud (TA) has been used as a tool to promote self-regulation and reflection within coaches, yet it has not been employed within the same context to support athletes. The aim of the present study was to understand golfers’ perceptions of using TA at two time points: immediately post performance and after a six-to-eight-week reflection period. Six golfers (5 males, 1 female; age: M = 30.8 years, SD = 14.8; handicap: M = 6.92, SD = 3.9) used TA during the performance on six holes of golf and listened back to their TA audio. Using semi-structured interviews and subsequent thematic analyses, we generated four themes: increased awareness, awareness of how behaviour influences performance, disruption of thought processes and performance, and application to coaching. Preliminary evidence provides support for TA as a potential tool to promote self-regulation in golfers which could be used to inform coaching interventions