Verbal Cue Use and Domains of Pre-Competitive Confidence in Competitive Weightlifters

Competitive weightlifting requires athletes to perform complex technical movements under high physical and psychological demands. This study aimed to characterize pre-competition verbal cue use among competitive weightlifters, examine the structure of pre-competition confidence, and explore associations between cue categories and confidence domains. Athletes competing at the 2025 USA Weightlifting American Finals completed a survey prior to the start of the competition assessing verbal cues used and confidence in performance goals, mental resilience, and physical readiness. Verbal cues were categorized as control, neutral, internal, external, or promotion-focused. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses supported a three-factor structure of confidence comprising performance goals, mental resilience, and physical readiness. Among 122 athletes who reported using verbal cues, external (39%) and control (35%) cues were most common, and more than half reported using multiple cue types. Women more frequently reported promotion-focused cues and less frequently reported control cues than men. Exploratory structural regression analyses indicated that control cues were positively associated with mental resilience and physical readiness, while promotion-focused cues were positively associated with physical readiness. These findings provide field-based descriptive evidence regarding verbal cue use among competitive weightlifters and suggest that different cue categories may be related to distinct dimensions of pre-competition confidence.