The Effect of the Frequency of Instructional and Motivational Self-Talk on performance of Dart throwing skill

The present study aimed to investigating the effect of the frequency of instructional and motivational self-talk on motor performance in dart throwing skill. A number of 38 non-athlete male students volunteered to participate in the study. The subjects were assigned into either an instructional or motivational self-talk groups with one and three repetitions based on pre-test scores. To analyze the data, we use a 2 Group (instructional and motivational) ×3 Test Condition (pretest, one and three repetitions) ANOVA with repeated measures on the last factor. The results showed that instructional and motivational self-talk with one repetition exerted a significant effect on dart throwing performance. However, instructional and motivational self-talk with three repetitions significantly deteriorated dart throwing. In other words, repetitions of self-talk had a negative effect on dart throwing performance.