Instructional self-talk improves the score
4 studies · 154 archers measured
The summary today
There is only one figure on this question from a venue without reservations, and it goes against the claim. Across 115 American recurve archers, from beginners to an Olympic gold medallist, how much they talk to themselves in competition has no link at all with their season's average score (r = -0.02), and neither do technical self-instructions (r = 0.06). It is a questionnaire, though, asking how much people talk to themselves, not an intervention teaching them to talk to themselves in a particular way. The interventions only arrive from 2022 and point the other way: at a Malaysian sports school six weeks of instructional self-talk take the score at 70 m from 256.5 to 280.0 (p = 0.047), and in India four weeks of positive self-talk take it from 84.0 to 97.2 while the control group stays put. Both appear in journals with questionable editorial standards, and a questionable venue cannot settle a status on its own. The first, moreover, has no control group and, comparing the groups with one another, finds no difference in score; the second trains phrases of encouragement rather than technical cues, and does not find them better than imagery. The little there is therefore goes against the claim, but neither side is strong.
Also phrased as: "talking yourself through the shot"; "cue words in archery"; "technical self-instructions"; "self-talk in archery"; "inner dialogue and performance"
In practice
On the range archers are taught to give themselves a cue word for each phase of the shot, 'push', 'back', 'expand', so that the mind stays on the movement and off the score.
Evidence
-
1986
Against Archers Published later
188 American recurve archers, aged 12 to 74 and ranging from beginners to an Olympic gold medallist, tested at Olympic preparation camps and national championships, with the average of the year's official scores as performance. Among the 115 with a complete mental section, self-talk in competition correlates with score at r = -0.02 and technical self-instructions at r = 0.06, far from the p < 0.005 threshold the authors chose. It is a questionnaire on how much people talk to themselves, not an intervention.
A Psychobiological Study of Archery Performance · Daniel M. Landers, Stephen H. Boutcher, Min Q. Wang
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2001
Context Archers Published later
Four elite archers from the French national squad followed through two competitions: after disappointing results they first look for a solution on their own, and the typical sequence consists of three actions, trying to relax, imagining all or part of the shot, and talking to themselves. It describes the use of self-talk, not its effect on the score.
Coach-Athlete Interaction during Elite Archery Competitions: An Application of Methodological Frameworks Used in Ergonomics Research to Sport Psychology · Fabienne d'Arripe-Longueville, Jacques Saury, Jean Fournier, Marc Durand
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2022
Context Archers Published later
45 young archers at a Malaysian sports school randomly split into three groups of 15 for six weeks, three one-hour sessions a week: with instructional self-talk alone the score at 70 m goes from 256.53 ± 51.72 to 280.00 ± 29.13 (p = 0.047). With self-talk and imagery combined it rises from 257.53 to 287.93 (p = 0.011), with imagery alone from 254.73 to 271.40 (p = 0.153). There is no control group without mental training, the authors write that the score does not differ significantly between groups, and the journal has questionable editorial standards. Under decision D7 it stays as context: a questionable venue cannot settle the status on its own.
Effects of Imagery Training and Self-Talk towards State Anxiety and Archery Performance Questionable venue · Mohammad Amir Hakim Mat Isar, Nelfianty Mohd Rasyid, Shaharudin Abdul Aziz
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2026
Context Archers Published later
30 Indian competitive archers aged 18 to 30 randomly assigned to imagery, self-talk or control, 10 per group, for four weeks: with 15 minutes of positive self-talk three times a week, using phrases designed for focus and confidence, the score rises from 84.0 ± 5.5 to 97.2 ± 4.0 (t(9) = 8.02, p < 0.001, d = 1.3), while the control group goes from 83.5 to 84.3. The self-talk trained is encouraging rather than instructional, and the journal has questionable editorial standards. It stays as context: the self-talk trained is not instructional and the venue is questionable.
Cognitive Arrows: Exploring the Power of Psychological Skills Training in Competitive Archery Questionable venue · Himalaya Tiwari, Pragati Chaturvedi, Bodhraj Kumkaria
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2026
Context Archers Published later
In the same study the imagery group rises from 85.1 to 100.5 points, more than the self-talk group, but the comparisons between the two groups are not significant and the values are not reported: self-talk turns out different from doing nothing, not better than another mental technique.
Cognitive Arrows: Exploring the Power of Psychological Skills Training in Competitive Archery Questionable venue · Himalaya Tiwari, Pragati Chaturvedi, Bodhraj Kumkaria
Status history
- 1986 Contradicted The first figure is a large American questionnaire: 188 recurve archers, from beginners to an Olympic gold medallist, with the average of the year's official scores as the measure of performance. Among the 115 who completed the mental section, how much they talk to themselves in competition does not correlate with score (r = -0.02), and neither do technical self-instructions (r = 0.06). It is a single study, and an association with how much people talk to themselves, not a test of what happens when they are taught to: the only evidence runs against the claim but cannot refute it on its own, so contradicted.
- 2001 Contradicted A qualitative study of four elite archers from the French national squad, followed through two competitions, shows that talking to themselves is part of what they do after a poor end, along with trying to relax and going over the shot in their heads. It describes something the best archers actually do, but measures nothing against the score: the only figure that does remains the null result of 1986, and the status does not move.
- 2022 Contradicted The first intervention arrives. At a Malaysian sports school 45 young archers are randomly split into three groups for six weeks, and the one doing instructional self-talk alone goes from 256.5 to 280.0 points at 70 m (p = 0.047); the group combining self-talk and imagery rises further, from 257.5 to 287.9. There is no control group without mental training, comparing the three groups with one another the score does not differ significantly, and the journal has questionable editorial standards: a result from a questionable venue is not enough to move the status. The only figure from a venue without reservations is still the null result of 1986: contradicted.
- 2026 Contradicted A second intervention, this time with a control group: thirty Indian competitive archers aged 18 to 30 randomly assigned to imagery, self-talk or normal training for four weeks. The self-talk group rises from 84.0 to 97.2 points (d = 1.3), while the control group stays at 84.3. But the self-talk trained consists of phrases of encouragement rather than technical cues, so it does not test this claim, in a head-to-head comparison it does not beat imagery, and this journal too has questionable editorial standards. The status stays contradicted: the only contrary figure is a questionnaire from forty years ago, and the supporting interventions are not enough to change it.
Related
Related articles
- Pre-shot routine in archery: how to build one on evidenceWhat to put in a pre-shot routine, how long it should last and what the data say: consistent timing, breathing, target panic and relaxing before the shot.
- Mental skills training in archery: what the measurements on archers showWhat has been measured on archers' mental training: score, confidence, anxiety, programme length, mock competitions and each of the tools in turn.
Research lines
Cite
Campagna, M. (2026). Instructional self-talk improves the score (Version 2). In Evidence Registry. Retrieved 16 October 2026, from https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/mind/instructional-self-talk-score
@misc{campagna2026_selftalkpunteggio,
author = {Campagna, Matteo},
title = {Instructional self-talk improves the score},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {Evidence Registry, matteocampagna.com},
url = {https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/mind/instructional-self-talk-score},
note = {Version 2; accessed 2026-10-16}
}
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