Toward a Common Language, Categorization, and Better Assessment in Self-Talk Research: Commentary on "Speaking Clearly . . . 10 Years on"

This paper provides a commentary on the article "Speaking clearly . . . 10 years on: The case for an integrative perspective of self-talk in sport." We suggest that this review of the self-talk literature and proposed "common language" for conceptualizing self-talk fall short of the authors' intended goals in ways that are largely reflective of broad, paradigmatic issues within the self-talk literature. Specifically, our commentary addresses issues pertaining to self-talk terminology, taxonomy-focused conceptual approaches, and a crisis of validity in the area of self-talk and sport. Recommendations for improving understanding of the phenomenon of self-talk, conceptualizing self-talk, and addressing validity issues are presented.