Why Athletes Who Talk to Themselves Perform Better

You may think I'm crazy, but I will outperform you - and that starts from my mind. Sun Tzu's "The Art of War" offers a lot of insight on how to defeat an opponent which starts from laying a good foundation, and playing sports should be no different. Whatever it is you play, you have an opponent to defeat, whether it be yourself or another team. Why do athletes who talk to themselves perform better? Here's why:

They release tension

Whether you a ball out, fouled a person, or struck out in the 9th inning, you didn't do what you set out to do (unless you are trying to set some horrendous record). Athletes you yell at themselves release a lot of the tension that is bottled up in their system. When you are playing a sport competitively, you have the burden of trying to outperform the opponent. This produces a lot of anxiety and stress on your mind mentally, although you may not realize it. Repeating what you did wrong verbally is a great way to reiterate the mistake you committed so that you don't do it again. With this bottled up energy released, you can move onto your next move.

They know what's wrong

An athlete who has a conversation with himself is one prone to diagnose problems in his/her technique. If you speak to yourself after committing a mistake, you take a step by step approach to finding out what it is that you did wrong. If you just bottle up your anger and frustration and try to take it out on the game, you will only find yourself in a deeper hole as you are cutting yourself off mentally. Finding out what is wrong is a systematic, level-headed approach to better decision making.

They don't forget their mistakes

When playing sports, it is rather easy to get your emotions involved in the game. What you want to do is get your positive thinking in gear. It is no secret that athletes, stressed as they may seem, enjoy the pressures of being able to perform and not choke. It is a triumph itself to be able to face down your own fears and pressures and succeed. This is why athletes who talk to themselves produce positive thinking. As they speak to themselves, they will constantly reprimand themselves for whatever they did incorrectly, inducing themselves to not make the same mistake. This is a vital way to make sure that the mistake won't happen again, as it probably won't. After the first time, they will constantly hear their voices burn the same message into their heads.

They have peace of mind

Tension and peace of mind is not the same thing. When an athlete has a conversation with himself or throw s a tantrum, apart from releasing that bottled up stress, they also have the tendency to put whatever mistake they had behind them and move on. This helps them to concentrate on whatever they have to do next in order to become successful and win the match. In no way will regretting to do something previously help you play a sport well, aside from keeping your mind occupied and the pressure off of you.

They are emotionally detached

In order to be a great athlete, you must be emotionally detached, and to celebrate only when the time permits. Case in point for football players: You may hear stories of teams who have a rivalry against another team, or teams who really need a certain win to stay alive in the playoffs. Going out and getting what they want is one thing, but when a player is emotionally involved, only one thing comes out of it - penalties. Channeling a good celebratory attitude is different than releasing rage, anger and hunger out on another team. It will only force the athlete himself to make errors that can happen in the blink of an eye - errors that can very well cost the game.

By talking you themselves, athletes provide a way to keep a cool head and not do anything to make themselves look like a complete idiot. In the time it takes for you to repeat something to yourself or yell at yourself, you could have avoided another mistake.