Goal-Getting

This chapter builds on Locke and Latham’s original principles and 50-year retrospective review of goal-setting in sport. It describes the various types of goals (outcome, mastery, performance, process, approach, avoidance, self-regulation), how to formulate them effectively and how they work together in synchrony for performance enhancement. Oettingen and Gollwitzer’s mental contrasting, implementation intentions (IIs) and Klein’s pre-mortem gap analyses bring depth, clarity and nuance to the process. Goals can also be activated out of awareness through unconscious goal priming, and coaches can use this as a conversational tool. The addition of gap analysis and if–then worksheets provides further customisation to each athlete’s needs. Ambivalence and feelings of internal conflict regarding goals are common, especially before the race (‘I want to … and I don’t want to’). Motivational interviewing (MI) and motivational chairwork (the Gestalt ‘2-chair’ intervention) are two methods to explore and resolve any such conflicts via gains, losses, positive intentions and laddering approaches. There are numerous athlete examples and a resolving ambivalence worksheet to apply. The final goal-getting worksheet summarises the chapter material in a practical format.