Three studies investigated the reliability and construct validity of the Exercise Thoughts Questionnaire (ETQ), an instrument developed to assess the frequency with which individuals have thoughts involving reasons or excuses for not exercising at the present time. Such cognitions are hypothesized to interfere with exercise behavior. Study 1 involved 164 college women; Study 2, 209 undergraduates; and Study 3, 196 undergraduates. Analyses revealed that the ETQ has good internal consistency and test-retest reliability. ETQ scores related in theoretically meaningful ways to exercise intentions, previous exercise experience, the number of days participants considered exercising but did not actually exercise, and both concurrent and prospective self-reports of exercise behavior. Exploratory analyses revealed that women reported a higher frequency of thoughts involving reasons or excuses for not exercising than men and that students who participated in collegiate, intramural, or club sports having required practices reported a lower frequency of such thoughts.
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Excuses, Excuses, Excuses: A Cognitive Behavioral Approach to Exercise Implementation
Deborah Kendzierski and Wendy Johnson
Goal-Directed, Spontaneous, and Stimulus-Independent Thoughts and Mindwandering in a Competitive Context
Alexander Tibor Latinjak
Thoughts influence performance and behavior in sports (see Hardy & Oliver, 2014 ). Hence, it is not surprising that numerous studies in sport sciences have focused on a series of cognitive processes, such as decision making ( Travassos et al., 2013 ), visualization ( Cumming & Williams, 2014 ), or
Reflections on the Maturing Research Literature of Self-Talk in Sport: Contextualizing the Special Issue
James Hardy, Nikos Comoutos, and Antonis Hatzigeorgiadis
gained some empirical understanding of the mechanisms through which self-talk facilitates performance. Data from these subsequent studies provided support for the presence of an attentional mechanism, that is, the reduction of interfering thoughts during task execution ( Hatzigeorgiadis, Theodorakis
Athletes’ Self-Reports on Mind Wandering While Practicing Sports: An Exploratory Two-Study Project
Alexander T. Latinjak
This project was focused on mind wandering, a cognitive process that would include any thought that is unrelated to the ongoing task or activity, thus unrelated to the thought-eliciting situation ( Klinger, 2009 ). Mind wandering can be intentional, for instance, when athletes bid their minds to
Usual and Pressure-Affected Thinking in Skilled Golfers: A Survey of Preparation and Execution Thought Processes
Leo J. Roberts, Mervyn S. Jackson, and Ian H. Grundy
influence); hence the struggle to perform is internal. Golf is also self-paced in that the performer initiates the action ( Singer, 1988 ). Self-paced activities may be especially prone to disruptive thought, with abundant thinking time opening the door to ironic, unhelpful thought processes ( Jackson, 2003
A Penny for Your Thoughts: Athletes’ and Trainee Sport Psychologists’ Internal Dialogue During Consultations
David Tod, Hayley E. McEwan, Amy E. Whitehead, and Daryl Marchant
potential to be “a positive form of self-consciousness” ( Egan & Reese, 2021 , pp. 88–89). Basch ( 1980 ) discusses how practitioners continuously form impressions of the client by becoming aware of their own internal reflections based on the feelings, thoughts, and memories that are stimulated. In turn
Student Thoughts during Tennis Instruction
Amelia M. Lee, Dennis K. Landin, and Jo A. Carter
Thirty fourth-grade students were provided two 30-min lessons on the tennis forehand ground stroke. The students and the teacher were videotaped, and, following each lesson, the students were interviewed using a stimulated-recall procedure. Frequency measures of successful practice trials were also coded for each student during each practice session. Analysis revealed a significant positive relationship between skill-related thoughts and successful performance during class. The findings support the notion that student thoughts are important mediators between instruction and student response patterns.
Felt Arousal, Thoughts/Feelings, and Ski Performance
Thomas D. Raedeke and Gary L. Stein
This study examined the relationship between felt arousal, thoughts/feelings, and ski performance based on recent arousal and affect conceptualizations. An eclectic integration of these perspectives suggests that to understand the arousal-performance relationship, researchers need to examine not only a felt arousal continuum (i.e., intensity or level ranging from low to high), but also a concomitant thoughts and feelings continuum (i.e., ranging from positive to negative). Recreational slalom ski racers completed a self-report measure examining felt arousal and thoughts/feelings prior to several ski runs. Results demonstrated a significant relationship between felt arousal level, thoughts/feelings, and subjective ski performance ratings, but not for actual ski times. In contrast to the inverted-U hypothesis for subjective performance ratings, high felt arousal is not associated with poor performance ratings if it is accompanied by positive thoughts and feelings.
Sport Management: Lessons From Yesterday, Applications for Today, Thoughts on Tomorrow
Donna L. Pastore
diversity and inclusion topics are included within the program but, then, must also go beyond this step to consider how these topics are being presented to ensure student engagement with them” (p. 39). This leaves us with much to reflect on for our future. Thoughts on Tomorrow In 1987, an article on the
Goal-Directed Self-Talk Used During Technical Skill Acquisition: The Case of Novice Ultimate Frisbee Players
Alexander T. Latinjak, Marc Masó, and Nikos Comoutos
(just after the training) compared to previous studies (one month; e.g., Latinjak et al., 2014 ). Moreover, all thought-sampling procedures have limitations as they rely on conscious awareness and memory ( Nisbett & Wilson, 1977 ). Furthermore, when interpreting the results of this study, the
