GOAL SETTING IN SPORT
AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITY
Damon Burton, Ph.D.
University of Idaho
WHAT ARE GOALS?
• Goals – are like magnets that attract
us to higher ground and new horizons.
They give our eyes a focus, our mind
an aim, and our strength a purpose.
Without their pull, we would remain
forever stationary, incapable of
moving forward . . . A goal is a
possibility that fulfills a dream (Lessin,
1999)
COMPONENTS OF GOALS
• Direction –
athletes’ choice
about how to direct
or focus their
behavior.
• Comparison
standard – a
minimal quality
and/or quantity of
behavior that must
be attained to
achieve success.
HOW GOALS WORK
•
•
•
•
Focus attention on specific tasks.
Increase effort and intensity.
Encourage persistence.
Promote the development of new
task strategies (e.g., problemsolving strategies).
DO GOALS WORK?
• Goal setting is the most popular
and effective performanceenhancement technique used in
sport psychology.
• Over 90% of all business studies
and almost 80% of all sport
studies demonstrate goal setting
effects, normally in 6 weeks or
less.
WHAT TYPES OF GOALS
ARE MOST EFFECTIVE?
• Process, performance and/or
outcome goals.
• Specific and/or general goals.
• Easy, moderate and/or difficult goals.
• Positive and/or negative goals.
• Practice and/or competitive goals.
• Short-term and/or long-term goals.
• Individual and/or team goals.
GOAL FOCUS: PROCESS,
PERFORMANCE & OUTCOME GOALS
•
•
•
Process goals focus on improving
form, technique and strategies.
Performance goals emphasize
improving personal performance or
attaining a particular performance
standard.
Outcome goals concentrate on
winning and outperforming others.
GOAL FOCUS: PROCESS,
PERFORMANCE & OUTCOME GOALS
• Process/performance goals
promote better performance than
outcome goals because they are
flexible & controllable.
Controllability – athletes should
control as much of their own success
or goal attainment as possible.
Flexibility – goals should be easy to
raise and lower to ensure optimal
goal difficulty in every situation.
GOAL DIFFICULTY: DIFFICULT,
MODERATE OR EASY GOALS
•
•
Research confirms that most athletes prefer
moderately difficult goals that are 5-15%
above current performance capabilities.
Orlick recommends 3 goal difficulty levels:
 Dream Goals – level of performance
possible if athletes experience Flow.
 Realistic Goals – moderately difficult level
of performance possible if the athlete
performs well-- up to expectations.
 Growth Goals – lowest level of
performance that a competitor can achieve
and still feel successful.
GOAL VALENCE
•
•
Positively-worded goals are believed to be better than
negative goals.

Want you to see image of success.
Skill level may impact valence
Low Skilled-------------------Moderately Skilled--------------------Highly Skilled
POSITIVE
NEGATIVE
•
Generally, positive goals are encouraged.
GOAL PROXIMITY: SHORT-TERM
VERSUS LONG-TERM GOALS
•
•
•
Long-term goals provide direction to help identify where
you are going.
Short-term goals are the stepping stones to reach long-term
goals . They promote the motivation and self-confidence
increments necessary to pursue those long-term objectives.
A combination of short- and long-term goals is recommended.
STAIRCASE APPROACH TO
ACHIEVING LONG-TERM GOALS
Long-term goal
Week 4 goal
Week 3 goal
Week 2 goal
Week 1 goal
Baseline
PRACTICE VERSUS
COMPETITIVE GOALS
•
•
•
•
Practice Goals
Focus - developing
skills.
Concentration and
motivation.
Outcome, process
& performance
goals.
Push comfort
zone.
•
•
•
•
Competitive Goals
Focus - performing
optimally.
Poise, confidence &
stress management.
Process &
performance goals.
Difficulty realistic
for CPC.
GOAL COLLECTIVITY: TEAM
VERSUS INDIVIDUAL GOALS
•
•
Team goals focus
on boosting
cohesion and
collective performance.
Individual goals are rolespecific in order to maximize
team success.
WHY TEAM GOALS PROMOTE
SOCIAL LOAFING?
• The larger the number of team
•
•
•
members, the less effort each athlete
expends.
Social loafing declines when
identifiability and accountability
increase.
Individual goals counter social loafing.
A combination of team and individual
goals is recommended.
CRITIQUE “SMART GOALS”
S
M
A
A
R
T
pecific
easurable
ggressive &
chievable
elevant
ime-bound
GOAL SETTING PROCESS
• Goal setting is
Goal Setting
Process
Set
Goals
Reinforce
Goal
Attainment
i
Secure
Commitment
Obtain Feedback
and Evaluate
Goal Attainment
Identify Barriers
and Construct
Action Plans
best understood
and most effective
when understood
as a process.
• Most coaches and
athletes do a great
job of setting
goals and then
forget or ignore
the rest of the
process.
GOAL SETTING PROCESS
• Follow goal type
Set Goals
•
Set
Goals
Reinforce
Goal
Attainment
i
Secure
Commitment
Obtain Feedback
and Evaluate
Goal Attainment
Identify Barriers
and Construct
Action Plans
•
recommendations.
Use Orlick’s three
levels of goal
difficulty.
Moderate goal
difficulty that’s
5-15% above
current
capabilities.
GOAL SETTING PROCESS
Secure Goal
Commitment
Set
Goals
Reinforce
Goal
Attainment
i
Secure
Commitment
Obtain Feedback
and Evaluate
Goal Attainment
Identify Barriers
and Construct
Action Plans
• Get athletes to
participate in
setting goals.
• Rewards build
commitment.
• Post goals and
goal progress to
promote social
support and
accountability.
GOAL SETTING PROCESS
• Identify skill and
Identify Barriers &
Construct Action Plans knowledge
Set
Goals
Reinforce
Goal
Attainment
i
Secure
Commitment
Obtain Feedback
and Evaluate
Goal Attainment
Identify Barriers
and Construct
Action Plans
barriers to goal
attainment.
• Develop a
systematic plan
for how you’ll
overcome barriers
and attain goals.
GOAL SETTING PROCESS
Obtain Feedback and
•
Feedback is
Evaluate Goal Attainment critical to goal
success.
Set
Goals
• Schedule times
daily and weekly
i
Reinforce
Secure
to monitor goals.
Goal
Commitment
Attainment
• Evaluation is the
most overlooked
Identify Barriers
Obtain Feedback
and Construct
and Evaluate
step in making
Action Plans
Goal Attainment
goals work.
GOAL SETTING PROCESS
Reinforce Goal
Attainment
Set
Goals
Reinforce
Goal
Attainment
i
Secure
Commitment
Obtain Feedback
and Evaluate
Goal Attainment
Identify Barriers
and Construct
Action Plans
• Reward goal
achievement.
• Use appropriate
shaping procedures
for reinforcement.
• Intermittent
reinforcement
enhances retention.
• Self-reward or
develop a team
reward system.
COORDINATING GOALS
• Step 1 – establish a culminating goal (e.g.,
outcome goal - win conference).
• Step 2 – develop a series of intermediate
performance goals (e.g., stroke mechanics,
conditioning, tactics, attacking skills and
mental skills) to win conference.
• Step 3 – set a series of short-term process
goals that are needed to reach performance
goals (i.e., timing, footwork, horizontal
movement and vertical swing enhance
stroke mechanics).
GOAL ROADMAPS
DEVELOPING A “GOAL
MENTALITY”
• Goal Mentality” – is the mindset to love
setting goals and set them
spontaneously and systematically in
everything you do.
• Setting goals become self-fueling and
increases intrinsic motivation and
steadily enhances self-confidence.
• A minimum of 8-12 weeks is necessary
to create a GM because performers
must set goals.
“GOAL MENTALITY”
REQUIREMENTS
• A minimum of 8-12 weeks is
necessary to create a “goal
mentality” (GM).
• The process requires setting daily
goals and monitoring them closely
while learning how to set goals
effectively and building a history of
success needed to optimize intrinsic
motivation and self-confidence.
COMMON GOAL PROBLEMS
• Failure to sell practitioners on goal setting
•
•
•
•
•
•
to ensure commitment.
Setting goals that are not measurable and
realistic.
Unwillingness to raise and lower goals to
maintain optimal difficulty.
Setting too many goals.
Focusing too much on outcome goals.
Forgetting to monitor and evaluate goals.
Develop a ”goal roadmap” to coordinate
goals.