The use of an enhanced simplified habit-reversal procedure to reduce disruptive outbursts during athletic performance.

A teen tennis player kept yelling and throwing his racquet during practice and tournaments.

The coach first tried simplified habit-reversal: a 3-second compete–relax breath each time he felt tension. Outbursts dropped a little, but they still happened.

Next the trainer added response cost: every outburst cost one dollar from the player’s tournament fund. The team used a multiple-baseline design across practice and matches to be sure any change came from the new rule.

Once the dollar fine began, disruptive outbursts fell to zero in both settings.

The improvement stayed for the rest of the season with no extra coaching needed.

Mueller et al. (2000) showed response cost alone can cut destructive behavior a large share even when kids can still escape work. Clarke (1998) adds a real-world sport case: the punisher finished the job after habit-reversal had only partial effect.

Rilling et al. (1969) first proved the idea in a lab: college students lost a penny each time they stuttered, and disfluencies dropped fast. Thirty years later the tennis study moves the same logic onto a high-school court.

DePaolo et al. (2019) also worked with athletes, but they used prompting and negative reinforcement to teach lacrosse players to call passes. Together the papers show behavior tools can both build skills and stop problem acts in sport settings.

If you work with teen clients who compete in music, chess, or any sport, keep response cost in your pocket. Start with a simple self-management cue like the 3-second breath. If behavior lingers, add a small, immediate cost—money, points, or sprint lines. One dollar made the difference between “better” and “gone.”