ABSTRACT
Goals are universal in sports. Nearly all athletes set goals on a frequent basis to structure training and motivate performance (Munroe-Chandler, Hall, & Weinberg, 2004 ; Weinberg, Burton, Yukelson, & Weigand, 2000 ). Goals provide direction to athletic pursuits that vary in time from immediate (e.g., master a skill, win a competition) to long term (e.g., make the Olympic team in four years). In sports such as golf, tennis, and running, goals form the basis for the continuous process of growth and mastery, which sometimes spans much of one’s adult life (Zimmerman & Kitsantas, 2007 ). Athletes also attach considerable importance to their goals, and as a result they experience a wide range of emotions in response to goal attainment and failure. Thus, sports provide an ideal context to test the propositions of goal setting theory (Locke & Latham, 1990 ) and to explore new directions for research on goal effectiveness (cf., Locke & Latham, 2006 ).
