Mental Toughness and Self-Talk as Predictors of Softball Batting Performance

Abstract

Mental toughness and self-talk are established concepts within sports psychology due to their multitude of benefits, including their impact on performance. This study provides further understanding of the predictive relationship between mental toughness and self-talk on softball batting performance. A survey was administered to 46 Australian softball athletes who completed the Mental Toughness Inventory (MTI) established by Gucciardi et al. (2015), and a Self-Talk Questionnaire (STQ) developed for this study. An exploratory factor analysis found that the STQ data fit a two-factor model, splitting self-talk into positive and negative. This was an unexpected result, as the STQ was developed with positive and negative self-talk as a spectrum, not two separate constructs. The survey results were then data matched to participant's batting average, and a linear regression analysis revealed that mental toughness was a significant predictor of softball batting performance, supporting hypothesis 1. However, hypothesis 2 was not supported, as self-talk was not significantly linked with batting performance. These results suggest that focusing on enhancing psychological tools such as mental toughness is more beneficial to performance than establishing positive self-talk. Building on this, further research in this area might consider replicating the study with a larger participant pool and moving away from self-report measures, which were found to be limitations in this study. A future direction may involve investigating cognitive concepts such as inhibitory control to gain a new perspective on sport performance. This research contributes to a better understanding of the relationship between psychological strategies, self-talk tools, and athletic performance. Keywords: Mental toughness, self-talk, softball performance, sport performance