Effects of Self-Talk and Sophrological Trainings on the Development of Self-Confidence and Managing Emotions in Tunisian Male Kick Boxers

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of self-talk and sophrological trainings on the self-confidence and managing emotions in Tunisian male kick boxers. One hundred twenty male athletes, with homogeneous age (22 ± 2.3 years), height (1.74 ± 0.08 m) and weight (65 ± 10.2 kg) were selected for the study. They were divided into three groups of forty subjects; the first two have been submitted to the self-talk or sophrological training and the last served as a control. Our results have shown that both mental training types improve the above cited criteria in athletes. However, the effects were much more pronounced with sophrological preparation. We conclude that self-talk and sophrology can be two effective methods for optimizing the self-confidence and managing emotions levels in Tunisian male kick boxers but the latter is more efficient.