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DOI: 10.4025/reveducfis.v24.2.17524
Rev. Educ. Fis/UEM, v. 24, n. 2, p. 171-179, 2. trim. 2013
ORIGINAL ARTICLES
GOAL SETTING IN SPORT AND EXERCISE: RESEARCH AND PRACTICAL
APPLICATIONS
ESTABELECENDO METAS NO ESPORTE E EXERCÍCIO FÍSICO: PESQUISA E APLICAÇÕES PRÁTICAS
Robert S. Weinberg
*
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this paper was to briefly review the major theoretical and empirical research in goal setting related to sport
and develop applications for best practice. Different types of goals were discussed and Locke’s theory of goal setting
provided the foundation for future research. After briefly reviewing the goal setting literature in sport and organizational
settings, principles for how to apply goal setting to enhance performance were developed. The development and
implementations of a goal setting system was presented including planning, meeting, and evaluation stages. Finlly, effective
goal setting practices based on empirical literature were discussed.
Keywords: Goal setting, Performance, Planning, Individual and team goals.
*
Doctor. Departament de Kinesiology and Health, Miami University, Oxford-Ohio, United States of America
INTRODUÇÃO
The Concept of Goal Setting
By definition, a goal is that which an
individual is trying to accomplish; it is the
object or aim of an action. For example, in most
goal setting studies, the term goal refers to
attaining a specific level of proficiency on a
task, usually within a specified time limit
(Locke, Shaw, Saari, & Latham, l981). From a
practical point of view, goals focus on standards
of excellence such as improving free throw
percentage by 5 points, losing 10 pounds,
lowering one's time in the mile run by 4 seconds,
or improving one's batting average by 20 points.
In addition, these goals would have to be
reached within a given time frame, such as by
the end of the season or within a certain number
of days, weeks, or months
Types of Goals
In sport and exercise settings, the type of
goals set by participants and coaches vary in
their degree of specificity, what they are trying
to accomplish, and the difficulty in measuring if
they were accomplished. Specifically, outcome
goals usually refer to winning and losing, such
as a goal to come in first place in the swim meet
or to win the state championship. Performance
goals refer to one’s actual performance in
relation to their own standard of excellence. For
example, athletes may wish to improve their first
serve percentage from 50% to 60%,or improve
their high jump from 6 feet 4 inches to 6 feet 10
inches. These are all under the control of the
athlete and are not dependent on winning and
losing as with outcome goals. Finally, process
goals are usually concerned with how an athlete
performs a particular skill, displays a certain
technique or carries out a specific strategy. For
example, a process goal in tennis might be to
bend your knees when hitting a low shot or in
baseball it might be try to keep your bat straight
up when waiting for the pitch. Although cases
can be made to focus on one type of goal or
another, research suggests all three types of
goals can be effective in enhancing
performance. However, from a research
perspective, athletes who use process and
performance goals rather than outcome goals
exhibit less anxiety, greater levels of confidence,
enhanced concentration, greater satisfaction and
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improved performance (Kingston & Hardy,
1997; Pierce & Burton, 1998)
Goal Setting Theory
Locke and his colleagues (Locke, 1966,
1968; Locke & Latham, 1990; 2006) developed
a theory of goal setting that has served as the
stimulus for literally hundreds of studies in
industrial and organizational settings, and more
recently in sport and exercise settings.
According to the theory, hard goals result in a
higher level of performance and effort than easy
goals, and specific hard goals result in a higher
level of performance than no goals or
generalized goals of "do your best." Locke has
argued that although goals can influence
behavior, no simple correlation between goals
and behavior can be assumed because people
make errors, or lack the ability to attain their
objectives.
Goal Setting and Task Performance in Industrial
Settings
The most tested aspect of Locke's theory
revolves around the relationship of goal
difficulty/ specificity and performance. Locke
and Latham (1990) reviewed 201 studies (over
40,000 and found, 91% supported Locke's initial
hypothesis. These results were found using
approximately 90 different tasks in both
laboratory and field settings, which
demonstrates the robustness and generalizability
of these findings. Locke and Latham (2002;
2006) have more recently confirmed these
findings. A second core aspect of Locke's goal
setting theory is that there is a linear relationship
between degree of goal difficulty and
performance.. Results from these meta-analyses
have revealed effect sizes ranging from 0.52-
0.82. In addition, of the192 studies reviewed,
175 (91%) provided support for harder goals
producing higher levels of task performance
than easy goals. Thus, the goal
difficulty/specificity relationships found in
industrial settings provide one of the most
consistent and robust patterns of findings in the
social science literature.
Goal Setting in Sport and Exercise
While considerable research has been
conducted on goal setting in industrial and
organizational settings, only in the last 25-30
years has sport and exercise psychology
researchers begun to examine the topic. The first
quantitative review of goal-setting in sport and
exercise settings was conducted by Kyllo and
Landers (1995). This initial review found a
consistent relationship between goals and
sport/exercise performance although the
findings were not as robust as in the
industrial/organizational literature. However,
more recent research has produced a stronger
relationship between goals and sport/exercise
performance(see Burton & Weiss 2008 for a
review). Along these lines, the perceived
effectiveness of goal setting was demonstrated
in surveys conducted with leading sport
psychology consultants working with U.S.
Olympic athletes. Sullivan & Nashman, 1998)
and NCAA athletes (Burton, Pickering,
Weinberg, Yukelson, & Weigand, 2010).
Overall, it is clear that goal setting is an
extremely powerful technique for enhancing
performance
Explanations for the Effectiveness of Goal Setting
Although different approaches have been
put forth to explain the effectiveness of goal
setting, the mechanistic view is the one that has
been adopted by most researchers. Locke and his
colleagues (Locke et al., 1981) put forth the
mechanistic explanation regarding the
effectiveness of goals on enhancing
performance. They argue that goals influence
performance in four distinct ways: (a) directing
attention (b) mobilizing effort, (c) enhancing
persistence, and (d) developing new learning
strategies.
Principles of Goal-Setting
It is clear that goals can enhance
performance in a variety of settings. However it
is misleading to think, however, that all types of
goals are equally effective in achieving these
ends due to individual differences and
environmental influences. It is important to
emphasize the distinction between the ‘science’
and the ‘art’ of setting goals. Specifically,
researchers can provide practitioners with the
science of goal setting, which leads to the
development of certain principles. But
situational constraints and individual differences
Goal Setting in Sport and Exercise: Research and Practical Applications 173
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always play a role; thus coaches need to know
their teams and individual athletes to maximize
goal-setting effectiveness. The goal setting
principles stated below should be viewed within
this context (WEINBERG, 2010).
Set Specific, Measurable Goals
Many time coaches and teachers tell
participants simply to go out and “do your best."
This instruction can be interpreted different
ways and thus with “do your best” goals,
athletes/ exercisers never fail because they can
always say that they did their best. Although this
”do your best” type of instruction can be
motivating, it is not as powerful in enhancing
motivation and performance as encouraging
participants to go out and achieve a specific
goal. In fact, it has been consistently shown that
specific, measurable goals produce significantly
better performance than “do your best” goals.
One of the reasons that goals need to be specific
is that they also need to be measurable so that
performers know they are making progress
towards achieving them. For example, telling a
basketball player to improve her foul shooting
percentage would not be as helpful as telling her
that you want her to improve her percentage
from 65% to 75%. By bending her knees and
keeping her elbow closer to her body. This gives
the player a specific goal to shoot for and a way
to measure if she achieved the goal.
Set Realistic But Challenging/Moderately Difficult
Goals
A standard principle to follow when setting
goals is that they should be challenging and
realistic. When goals that are too difficult,
individuals will have a tendency to lose
motivation and possibly give up when they fall
short of their goal. Conversely, goals that are too
easy do not present a challenge to individuals,
which lead to becoming complacent and
exerting less than maximum effort. But how
does one determine if a goal is realistic and
challenging? Here is where the art of coaching
becomes important, as coaches need to know
each individual athlete, in order to determine the
appropriate challenge for that athlete.
But a good rule of thumb is to set more
immediate goals no more than 5% above current
performance over the past couple of weeks.
However, in many sports (e.g., swimming,
skiing, track) even a 1% increase in performance
can be a significant improvement and mean the
difference between winning and losing. Thus,
the secret is to find a balance between setting
oneself up for failure (goals too difficult) and
allowing for easy success (goals too easy). In
this middle ground reside challenging, realistic,
moderately difficult, attainable goals.
Set Short-Term and Long-Term Goals
Coaches and athletes are always told to set
both short-term and long-term goals. But why
are both of these types of goals necessary?
Coaches typically set outcome-oriented and
long-term goals such as winning their league
championship and athletes might set individual
long-term goals such as winning a medal at the
Olympics. These long-term goals are very
important for success as they provide coaches
and athletes with a direction and destination, and
can sometimes act as dream goals. In essence,
they keep the focus on where you want to
eventually go. As some athletes would say “keep
your eye on the prize.”
However, research has revealed that both
short- and long-term goals are needed to
maintain motivation and performance over time
(WEINBERG; BUTT; KNIGHT,
2001;WEINBERG; BUTT; KNIGHT;
PERRITT, 2002). Short-term goals are
important because they help individuals focus on
small improvements and also provide continuous
feedback concerning progress toward the long-
term goal. This feedback can serve a
motivational function and allow adjustment of
goals either upward or downward, depending on
the situation. A long-term goal may seem out of
reach; but breaking it up into manageable short-
term goals can make the seemingly impossible
become possible. A good way to envision the
interaction of short-term and long-term goals is
to think of a staircase with the long-term goal at
the top, the present level of performance at the
bottom, and a sequence of progressively linked
short-term goals connecting the top and bottom
of the stairs.
“Ink It, Don’t Think It”
Several sport psychologists (e.g., BURTON;
RADAEKE, 2008; GOULD, 2010; WEINBERG
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et al., 2000) have emphasized the importance of
writing down and recording goals. Not only
should goals be written down, they also should
be recorded in a place where they can be easily
seen. This can be done in a number of different
ways such as putting goals (as well as goal
progress) on a bulletin board outside a
swimming pool with a graph recording the
number of miles that each swimmer has
completed each week. Or athletes can write their
goals on a 3 x 5 card before each practice. The
key is not simply that the goals are written
down, but rather it is that the goals are available
and remain salient to each individual.
Develop Goal Achievement Strategies
In Locke's (1968) seminal work, he
proposed that one of the mechanisms underlying
the effectiveness of goals in enhancing
performance is the development of relevant
learning strategies. Unfortunately, this aspect of
goal setting is often neglected, as goals are set
without a solid series of strategies identified to
achieve these goals. Setting goals without also
setting appropriate strategies for achieving these
goals is like setting a goal to drive from New
York to Los Angeles in four days, but forgetting
to bring a map.
A sport example highlighting the importance
of goal achievement strategies begins with a
softball player who sets a goal to improve her
batting average 25 points from last season. The
question now becomes, how is she going to
accomplish this goal? At this point, the setting
of relevant learning strategies comes into play.
The player might decide to change her stance
and move further back in the batter's box to get a
better look at the ball. She may change her
routine while in the on-deck circle and employ
some imagery before she gets up to bat. Or she
may decide she needs to lift more weights to
build up her upper body strength. The key is that
some learning strategy (or strategies) needs to be
identified and incorporated into the daily
training regimen so that the player can actively
pursue the goal of improving her batting average
by 25 points. Similarly, using an exercise
example, an individual want to lose 15 pounds
and increase her muscle tone through exercise.
Focusing on the exercise aspect (as opposed to
the nutritional aspect), the individual might join
a fitness class that meets three times
Set Goals For Practice and Competition
Many societies seem to be focused on
winning in sport competition and thus setting
goals generally focuses solely or predominantly
on competition goals. However, for most sports,
daily practices encompass much more time
commitment than do competitions. This is
especially the case in sports such as gymnastics,
swimming, figure skating, and track and field
where there usually are only a few important
meets; the rest of the time is spent on practice,
practice, and more practice. This is not to say
that competition goals aren’t important
(although they should focus more on
performance and process); rather setting a
practice goal is a good way to keep an athlete
motivated and focused during long, arduous and
often repetitive practice sessions. Some typical
practice goals could include getting to practice
on time, giving teammates positive
reinforcement and encouragement, displaying
leadership behaviors, and achieving certain
performance standards for specific drills.
Research with high school and college coaches
(WEINBERG et al., 2001, 2002) has confirmed
that coaches feel it is important to set goals both
in practice and in competition.
But let’s not totally forget competition
goals. The important point is not to focus on
winning; rather focus more on doing the things
that will help you win (which are usually more
in the form of process goals). The process goals
in practice should help athletes learn their skills
so well that they become automatic in
competition. This is the ticket for peak
performance in competition.
Develop Plans to Reach Goals
In Locke's (1968) seminal work, he
proposed that one of the mechanisms underlying
the effectiveness of goals in enhancing
performance is the development of relevant
learning strategies Unfortunately, this aspect of
goal setting is often neglected as coaches often
seem to believe that simply having goals will
improve performance. However, strategies need
to be specific (as noted above) and should
involve definite numbers (e.g., how much, how
many, how often). So, when setting goals, one
should always ask the question, “What do I need
to do to reach my goals? For example what
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would a baseball player do to increase his
batting average from .250 to .300, a golfer
reducing her average score from 78 to 74, or a
basketball player increasing his foul shooting
percentage from 70% to 80%? Setting more
specific process goals would help achieve the
performance goals that were set. Using the
baseball example, the player might decide to
change his stance and move further back in the
batter's box to get a better look at the ball. He
may change his routine while in the on-deck
circle and employ some imagery before he gets
up to bat. Or she may decide he needs to lift
more weights to build up his upper body
strength.
Set Individual and Team Goals
Coaches often think that setting individual
goals would undermine the greater team goal.
However, there is a place for individual goals
within a team sport, as long as the individual
goals do not conflict with team goals
(WEINBERG et al., 2000). If athletes meet their
individual goals, then this should theoretically
help ensure success as a team. In fact,
researchers have found that team goals enhance
performance as effectively as individual goals if
they foster individual goal-setting (Locke &
Latham, 1990). For example, setting a goal to
improve one’s shooting percentage from 45% to
55% should enhance the team’s goal of winning
the championship. However, increasing one’s
individual goal from average 10 points per game
to 15 points per game may undermine the team
goal of winning a championship because the
player may simply take more shots to get the 15
points. Thus, sport psychology consultants
should be cautious when athletes set individual
goals, making sure they contribute to overall
team goals.
Re-evaluate Goals
Goal setting should be a starting place and
not an ending place. Many coaches and athletes
make the mistake of setting goals and never
going back to them to see how they are
progressing toward those goals. However, goals
should be re-evaluated periodically based on
current performance versus the original goal that
was set and potentially made easier or more
difficult. For example, if a baseball player set a
goal to bat .300 and was hitting only .220 at
midseason, then he should probably readjust his
goal to be more realistic such as hitting .275 by
the end of the season. However, if he was hitting
.340 at midseason, he might increase his goal to
.325 as that now would seem very realistic. The
point is that one’s goal can be altered based on
the current situation (maybe the player got
injured or simply got off to a very slow or fast
start). By periodically revisiting (and then
potentially adjusting) the goal, it always remains
realistic but challenging as noted above. This
should help keep athletes optimally motivated as
they strive to meet their goal.
Designing a Goal-Setting System
The principles of goal-setting and the
supporting research should give you a good start
into setting productive goals for your
participants. But to provide even more detail, a
brief overview of the “nuts and bolts” of a goal-
setting system is presented with three different
unique phases or stages (WEINBERG; GOULD,
2011).
Planning Stage
An effective coach, instructor, or trainer does
not want to enter a physical activity setting
unprepared. In this stage, preparation and planning
are essential. The key elements to making this
stage work include the following:
Assess the individuals’ needs/abilities
For athletes, this could be done in the off-
season or preseason and, for exercisers, this
should be done as quickly as possible at the
beginning of their program of physical activity.
Meetings with individuals could be scheduled to
discuss their needs (or that of the team if
appropriate). Depending on the team or group,
there may be many individuals returning or none
at all. In any case, the abilities of the
individuals and their needs should be carefully
assessed as this will help inform the
coach/instructor regarding what overall goals are
necessary and important.
Based on the abilities/needs assessment, goals
should be set
It is important that goals be set in different
areas and not just focus on individual or team
skills. For example, there may be a focus of
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goals on enjoyment, playing time, psychological
skills, or fitness. It is important to set goals in
diverse areas because students, athletes, and
exercisers participate in sport and physical
activity for a variety of reasons (e.g., skill
improvement, weight loss, fun, winning).
Plan goal strategies
Although given to participants in the
meeting stage, you should be planning on some
specific strategies to help achieve the goals you
believe the individuals and/or team should
accomplish over the next season or next
program. These strategies will be refined in the
next meeting stage.
Meeting Stage
Once you have planned out the goals based
on the assessments of abilities and needs, then
you are ready to move into the meeting phase.
In this phase, you will impart basic goal-setting
information and principles to participants as
well as have them set their specific goals.
Provide basic goal-setting information
At the initial meeting provide participants
with the basic information about goals including
the principles that were discussed earlier. You
might have individuals share with the rest of the
group concerning how goal setting has helped
them in the past. In addition, understanding
athletes’ strengths and weaknesses would also
be a goal of this meeting. Having athletes
reflect on goals they have set in the past and
why or why not they reached their goals, which
could include both internal and external barriers.
This information and athletes’ own reflections
should help them in setting their own specific
goals for the upcoming season.
Second Meeting
After the first meeting, give athletes a
chance to go home and think about the goals
they want to set based on the information they
received in the first meeting. They should be
asked by coaches to think about making some
specific individual goals (maybe in certain areas
such as in basketball where they could set goals
on field goal percentage, assists, and rebounds).
In addition, they could be asked to think about
team goals such as winning percentage, number
of points as a team per game and holding
opponents to a certain number of points per
game. With this information in hand, team goals
should be set in this meeting by soliciting goals
from the players and then voting on them. Of
course the coach should act as a “benevolent
dictator” by gently directing the team toward
goals they think are realistic and important.
Meet individually with all participants
It is a good idea to meet individually with
all participants to set up their specific goals after
they now have had some time to think about
their goals in more detail. Just like in team goals
the coach needs to make sure that goals are
appropriate and realistic. For example, if a
baseball player hit .225 last year and wants to
set a goal to hit .325, the coach might say that
this is too difficult and a goal like .275 might be
more realistic. As will be noted below, this goal
can be changed as necessary.
Plan goal achievement strategies.
Do not forget to give the participants
strategies to reach their goals as this is an often
forgotten area of goal-setting. For example, if a
basketball player has a goal to increase her free-
throw percentage from 70% to 75%, then
specific strategies need to be introduced to help
the athlete achieve this goal such as changing
their mechanics, practicing more (e.g., more
free-throws), or using imagery as part of a pre-
shot routine.
Evaluation Stage
Probably the stage that is most difficult for
practitioners is the evaluation phase. Many people
get all jazzed up about setting goals at the outset of
a competitive season or program, but then they lose
steam and sight of these goals as time marches on.
So here are some tips for the evaluation phase of
the program to keep maintenance and focus of the
goals set at the outset.
*Plan for goal-evaluation procedures.
As noted above, this is a difficult part of the
goal-setting process and coaches and instructors
should plan carefully for goal evaluation. For
example, do not plan to reevaluate goals at the
busiest time of the year for you. Someone should
be assigned to keep track of goal progress like (eg.,
Goal Setting in Sport and Exercise: Research and Practical Applications 177
Rev. Educ. Fis/UEM, v. 24, n. 2, p. 171-179, 2. trim. 2013
a manager in a sport team setting). A physical
educator may schedule performance or skill tests
periodically to monitor goal progress. In either
case, the feedback process costs the instructor or
coach little time.
Provide for goal reevaluation.
Depending on the nature of the program, the
coach or instructor should meet with individuals
regarding their progress toward meeting their
goals. The individuals may be exceeding their
original goals and therefore goals should be
made more difficult. Conversely, due to injury
or other external factors, it is possible that the
participants are not near to reaching their goals,
so the goals may need to be pushed back some.
In any case, feedback from the instructor or
coach and constant reevaluation of goals help
keep the participant on track and focused.
Provide support and encouragement.
Throughout the season or sessions, the
coach or exercise leader should ask participants
about their goals and publicly encourage their
goal progress. Showing enthusiasm about the
goal-setting process supports the participants
and keeps them motivated to fulfill their goals.
Making Goals Effective
As noted earlier, goals, in and of
themselves, do not enhance performance. Goals
must follow certain principles to maximize their
effectiveness. Along these lines, Locke and
Latham (1990) have outlined a seven-step
process that will maximize goal effectiveness.
These steps are briefly outlined below.
Set Appropriate Goals
This is simply making sure that the principles
of goal setting described above are employed when
setting goals. Thus goals should be more process-
oriented than outcome oriented, subjective and
objective depending on the situation, short and
long-term, written down, moderately difficult,
measurable, set in both practice and competition,
both individual and team, as well as positive versus
negatively stated.
Develop Goal Commitment
A variety of studies have demonstrated the
critical importance of goal commitment in
enhancing performance and fostering goal
achievement (see Burton & Weiss, 2008 for a
review). The specific techniques to enhance goal
commitment include public disclosure of goals
(bulletin boards, share with others), goal
participation (make athletes part of the goal-
setting process), incentives for achieving goals,
write down goals, make goals competitive,
against themselves, have individuals imagine
reaching their goals.
Evaluate Goal Barriers
For most people, there are usually barriers
that crop up while trying to achieve their goals.
This is especially the case if the goals are long-
term in nature, as things tend to get in the way
from achieving one’s goal. These goals tend to
be more internal or external in nature. For
example, in research on Olympic athletes,
Weinberg et al., (2000), found both internal
barriers (e.g., lack of confidence, lack of
physical ability, goals were too difficult, and
increased pressure) and external barriers (e.g.,
lack of time to properly train, lack of social
support, work commitments, and family
responsibilities). Of course, specific barriers
might be different for high school and college
athletes as well as exercisers, although barriers
still exist. The key is that the specific barriers
need to be identified and strategies to overcome
these barriers need to be implemented.
Develop Action Plans
Although it has been demonstrated that
goals are more effective when a systematic
action plan guides the athlete toward reaching
them (Locke & Latham, 1990), research has
revealed that athletes, coaches and exercisers are
generally not very systematic when
implementing their goals (Burton et al., 2010). .
For example, if someone has been sedentary for a
long time wants to start exercising, she might set a
goal to walk for 15 minutes five-times a week. But
specific plans might include when they would
walk, where they would walk, with whom will they
walk (if they want/need a partner), how fast will
they walk, and here may be child-care to consider.
The point is that you need to know exactly what
you will need to do to achieve your goal.
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Feedback on Goal Progress
Locke and Latham (1990) found that in
17/18 studies, goals plus feedback produced
significantly higher performance than goals
alone and 21/22 studies found that goals plus
feedback was significantly better than feedback
aloe. Furthermore, adding feedback to goals
raised performance by approximately 17%
(Mento, Steel, & Karren, 1987).
Evaluation of Goal Progress
oal evaluation may be the most important
step in the goal-setting process (Locke &
Latham, 1990). Evaluation provides specific
information of how individuals are progressing
toward their goals (e.g., averaging 10 points a
game in basketball whereas my goal is 12 points
per game). The main point is that goals are
starting places and not ending places and
athletes and exercisers should be re-evaluating
their goals on a regular basis. This frequent
evaluation will tend to keep individuals’
motivation and confidence high.
Reinforce Goal Attainment
Reinforcing goal attainment (or significant
progress toward achieving a goal) will help
individuals continue that behavior (Smith, 2010).
In addition, the reward should encourage the
individual to start a new goal setting process as the
individual builds towards higher and more
challenging goals. Oftentimes when teaching new
skills whether in sport or exercise settings, skills
are broken down into smaller units so individuals
can more easily learn these movements. Rewards
can be provided for individuals attaining each or
some of these smaller goals as they move toward
their larger goal of learning the entire skill.
Summary
This paper focused on the effectiveness of
setting goals in sport and exercise environments.
Locke's theory of goal setting, has indicated that
specific, difficult, challenging goals lead to
higher levels of task performance than easy
goals, no goals, or "do your best" goals, was
presented. More recent research investigating
the goal-performance relationship in sport and
exercise settings has also found support for the
effectiveness of goals although the findings are
not as robust as those in the industrial literature.
Basic goal setting principles were presented,
including setting specific goals, setting realistic
and challenging goals, setting both short-and
long-term goals, setting performance goals,
writing goals down, providing support for goals,
and providing for goal evaluation. A process for
actually with teams setting goals was outlined
along with a seven-step process to set goals
most effectively. It should be remembered that
the effectiveness of any goal-setting program
would in large part rely on the interaction of the
coach, exercise leader, or sport psychologist and
the motivations of the specific participants. In
essence, individual differences and
environmental considerations should always be
taken into account when setting goals.
ESTABELECENDO METAS NO ESPORTE E EXERCÍCIO FÍSICO: PESQUISA E APLICAÇÕES PRÁTICAS
RESUMO
Este trabalho focalizou a efetividade do estabelecimento metas no esporte e em ambientes de exercícios físicos. A teoria de
Locke de estabelecimento de meta, que indica que metas específicas, difíceis, desafiadoras conduzem a níveis mais altos de
desempenho de tarefa do que metas fáceis, nenhuma meta, ou a meta do tipo "faça o seu melhor", foi apresentada. Pesquisas
mais recentesinvestigando a relação meta-desempenho em esporte e exercícios físicos também encontraram apoio para a
efetividade de metas embora os resultados não sejam tão robustos quanto os da literatura industrial. Foram apresentados os
princípios básicos de estabelecimento de metas, incluindo estabelecimento de metas específicas, de metas realísticas e
desafiadoras, de metas em curto e longo prazo, estabelecimento de metas de desempenho, anotação de metas, provimento de
apoio para as metas e incentivo à avaliação de metas. Um processo para estabelecimento de metas com equipes foi esboçado
junto com um processo de sete-passos para estabelecer metas efetivamente. É importante lembrar que a efetividade de
qualquer programa de estabelecimento de metas em grande parte dependeda interação entre o treinador, do coordenador de
exercícios físicos, do psicólogo desportivo e da motivação dos participantes. Em essência, ao estabelecer metas sempre se
deve levar em contao ambiente e as diferenças individuais.
Palavras-chave: Estabelecimento de metas, Desempenho, Planejamento, Metas individuais e em equipe.
Psicologia dos Talentos em Desporto: Um olhar sobre a investigação 179
Rev. Educ. Fis/UEM, v. 24, n. 2, p. 171-179, 2. trim. 2013
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Recebido em 06/07/2012
Revisado em 17/08/2012
Aceito em 20/10/2012
Endereço para correspondência: Robert Weinberg, KNH Department, Miami University-Phillips Hall, Oxford, Ohio
45056, E-mail weinber@muohio.edu