Exploring Attentional Mechanisms of Strategic Self-Talk Through Heart-Rate Variability in a Golf-Putting Task

The positive impact of strategic self-talk on performance in various sports tasks has been well-documented. Contemporary research has therefore started to explore the potential mechanisms through which self-talk affects performance. The purpose of the present study was to examine aspects of the attentional mechanisms underlying performance on a golf putting task, endorsing a psychophysiological perspective through the assessment of Heart-Rate Variability. Participants were 40 male sport science students, with no prior experience in golf putting, who were randomly assigned to control and experimental groups. The experiment was completed over four sessions, including baseline assessment, two training sessions, and final assessment. Participants of both groups followed the same training protocol, with the experimental group practicing strategic self-talk training and developing personal self-talk plans for the final assessment. Performance and HRV were recorded during the baseline and final assessments. Repeated measures analysis of variance showed that the experimental group showed greater performance improvement from baseline to final assessment and superior performance compared to the control group at the final assessment. Analysis of the HRV data provided indications that the experimental group showed different patterns of RMSSD activation at the final assessment, showing a greater activation of the para-sympathetic nervous system, in particular so, towards the latest stages of the golf-putting task. The findings are in line with an attentional interpretation of self-talk effectiveness through a more relaxed / less effortful processing, showing that when ego depletion was likely induced, the use of strategic self-talk mitigated any adverse effects.