427

applied ReseaRch

Vidic and Burton are with the University of Idaho.

The Sport Psychologist, 2010, 24, 427-447© 2010 Human Kinetics, Inc.

The Roadmap: Examining the Impact of a Systematic Goal-Setting Program for

Collegiate Women’s Tennis Players

Zeljka Vidic and Damon BurtonUniversity of Idaho

This study assessed the impact of an 8-week goal-setting program on the moti-vation, confidence and performance of collegiate women tennis players using a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest study design. This goal-setting program used the ‘roadmap’ concept; a unique systematic approach to goal-setting that focused on setting coordinated long-, intermediate-, and short-term goals. Participants consisted of six female Division I collegiate tennis players who completed seven instruments to assess intervention effectiveness. Over the 8-week intervention, all 6 players demonstrated improvements in motivation, confidence and performance measures, particularly on targeted variables. Qualitative results further strengthen support for intervention success, with all six athletes consistently reporting that goal-setting was beneficial in enhancing their motivation, confidence and per-formance.

Reviews of psychological intervention research in sport (Meyers, Whelan & Murphy, 1996; Ulmer & Burton, 2010; Vealey, 1994; Weinberg & Comar, 1994) have generally shown mental skills training (MST) programs to be effective at enhancing competitive cognitions and performance. Recent reviews (Burton, Naylor & Holliday, 2001; Burton & Weiss, 2008; Gould, 2006; Hall & Kerr, 2001; Kyllo & Landers, 1995; Locke & Latham, 1990, 2006) have been conducted to examine the effectiveness of goal-setting as a performance enhancement tool, with both general and sport reviews demonstrating that goal-setting is one of the most effec-tive performance enhancement strategies in the behavioral sciences. Contemporary research in sport and physical activity settings (Burton & Weiss, 2008; Ulmer & Burton, 2010) has concluded that goal-setting is one of the most effective methods of obtaining commitment, increasing effort and enhancing perseverance that is needed for long-term motivation as well as generating the performance accom-plishments needed to enhance self-confidence. Ulmer and Burton (2010) reviewed 25 goal intervention studies and confirmed that they are moderately effective for enhancing motivation, confidence and performance (i.e., mean effectiveness rating = 3.1 out of 5).

428 Vidic and Burton

Burton and his colleagues (Burton et al., 2001; Burton, Weinberg, Yukelson, Weigand, 1998; Burton & Weiss, 2008) have provided support for the importance of setting the right type of goals and using appropriate goal implementation strategies (i.e., planning and goal evaluation) to enhance the quality of goal-setting interven-tions. Thus, the two primary purposes of this study were: (a) to test the feasibility of developing an easily implemented roadmap model of goal-setting planning that integrates short-, intermediate- and long-term goals into a systematic implementa-tion program, and (b) to assess the impact of this program to enhance the motiva-tion, confidence and performance/development of collegiate women tennis players.

Goal-Setting in SportThe use of goal-setting as a tool to increase workforce productivity dates back to the early 1960s (Locke & Latham, 1990). While goal-setting research in sport has demonstrated significant performance enhancement effects, these results have been somewhat weaker than those demonstrated in business/industry settings (Burton & Weiss, 2008). A recent review of goal intervention studies (Ulmer & Burton, 2010) has confirmed the efficacy of goal-setting as an intervention strategy in sport, with (a) 3 out of 4 studies demonstrating strong effects for enhancing motivation (e.g., Evans & Hardy, 2002; Pierce & Burton, 1998; Wilson & Brookfield, 2009), (b) 3 out of 7 studies showing moderate or strong confidence enhancement effects (i.e., Evans & Hardy, 2002; O’Brien, Mellalieu & Hanton, 2009; Pierce & Burton, 1989), and (c) 10 out of 16 studies revealing moderate to strong performance enhancement effects (e.g., Anderson, Crowell, Doman & Howard, 1988; Mellalieu, Hanton & O’Brien, 2006; Wanlin, Hrycaiko, Martin, & Mahon, 1997). Recent findings on goal effectiveness have also revealed that several important factors influence how effectively goals work in sport including: (a) setting the right type of goals, and (b) employing appropriate goal implementation strategies (Burton et al., 2001; Burton & Weiss, 2008).

The Right Type of Goals

Two goal characteristics that are particularly critical to ensuring effective competi-tive goal setting programs include: (a) goal focus (i.e., process, performance and outcome goals) and (b) goal temporality (i.e., short- and long-term goals). Process goals are defined as improving form, technique, and strategy; performance goals focus on attaining specific performance levels; and outcome goals target winning and outperforming others (Burton & Weiss, 2008; Kingston & Hardy, 1997). Burton and Weiss (2008) emphasized that the importance of process and performance goals is due to their flexible and controllable nature. The flexibility and controllability of process and performance goals promote increased motivation by fostering optimal levels of challenge and consistent success, whereas increased self-confidence devel-ops because athletes’ greater control over personal goal attainment allows them to take greater credit for their success as indicative of high ability. Performance improvements also occur because process and performance goals can focus attention on areas needing improvement. Specifically, process and performance goals are predicted to be more effective than outcome goals in increasing motivation, boosting

The Roadmap    429

confidence and enhancing performance due to their promotion of task orientations and mastery-oriented climates (Burton et al., 1998; Burton & Weiss, 2008).

Long-term goals provide direction for performance enhancement efforts, while short-term goals serve as intermediate steps necessary for reaching long-term goals and should provide more opportunities to achieve performance standards to enhance on-going motivation and confidence (Burton & Weiss, 2008; Kyllo & Landers, 1995). However, the sport goal literature has devoted little attention to intermediate goals that might serve as a bridge between short- and long-term goals (Burton & Weiss, 2008). Thus, this study focused on incorporating intermediate, as well as short- and long-term goals to further enhance goal effectiveness.

Goal Implementation Strategies

Previous research (Burton et al., 2001; Burton et al., 1998) found that goal imple-mentation strategies were used more frequently and with greater success by more effective as compared with less effective goal-setters. According to Burton and col-leagues (2001), the two most critical steps in the goal implementation process are developing systematic action plans and evaluating goals regularly. Goal evaluation is considered a critical goal implementation step because it provides information about competence when performance reaches or exceeds the goal, and as a result, helps raise self-confidence and motivation (Burton et al., 2001; Locke & Latham, 1990, 2006). Further, the development of an effective action plan is an important step that ensures athletes maximize their chances of attaining their goals by devel-oping a systematic plan that details how to overcome obstacles and achieve valued goals (Burton et al., 2001).

The Roadmap

This study used a ‘roadmap’ concept to develop and implement action plan strategies to enhance athletes’ motivation, confidence and performance through a combination of short-, intermediate- and long-term goals. The roadmap is a goal planning tool developed to help organize athletes’ development throughout the intercollegiate tennis season that specifies how long-term goals will be broken down into a series of intermediate- and short-term goals and includes a systematic set of strategies designed to ensure maximal goal attainment.

South (2005) developed the ‘roadmap’ approach to ensure a more individual-ized and systematic process for developing and implementing ‘action plans’ to maximize short-term progress while building toward long-term success (see Figure 1). The athlete’s roadmap is typically developed by conducting a comprehensive needs assessment that includes extensive coaching observation and evaluation of each athlete’s strengths and weaknesses. Coaches also collaborate with athletes to identify the types of goals that would most effectively enhance their performance. The roadmap outlines the long-term goals that coaches and athletes jointly identi-fied for attainment and specifies how they will be broken down into intermedi-ate- and short-term goals, complete with action plans for accomplishing each key step (Figure 1).

430

Figure 1 — Example of a roadmap for a female collegiate tennis player.

The Roadmap    431

The roadmap integrates athletes’ mental and physical development, and a flowchart is developed for each athlete that directs them through the goal setting process (see Figure 1). According to South’s (2005) model, the goal-setting process in sport is fluid and dynamic rather than just a simple linear progression from one goal to another. That is, athletes can work on process goals at the same time and simultaneously work on multiple goals instead of waiting for the achievement of one goal to progress to the next. In this model, long-term goals are outlined in the linear fashion, whereas intermediate goals are depicted as dynamic feed-in loops which are further subdivided into smaller components that represent short-term goals (Figure 1). For example, one player’s intermediate goal might be the development of attacking skills that would be broken down into smaller short-term goals such as transition shots, volleys, and overheads. The dynamic nature of the intermediate goal loops suggests that they may overlap with each other throughout the cycle, and in that way, allow for simultaneous goal attainment of several types of goals. Thus, intermediate goals provide a progression that prioritizes skill development, although some intermediate skills may be worked on in parallel, while others may serve as building blocks for more critical skills that are developed later. The roadmap allows for the establishment of an ‘order of operations’ in which skill development can be programmed to meet each athlete’s needs during specific times of the season. Therefore, this study was the first to examine the feasibility of developing an easily implemented roadmap model of goal-setting, and to assess the impact of using a goal roadmap model to enhance the motivation, confidence and development of collegiate women tennis players. The goal roadmap intervention was hypothesized to enhance all three dependent variables over the 8-week season.

Method

Design and Participants

This study used a quasi-experimental pretest/posttest design to assess intervention effectiveness. Participants included 6 female collegiate Division I tennis players who ranged in age from 17 to 22 years (i.e., M=19 years; SD = 1.9). Four athletes were freshmen, one a sophomore, and one a junior. During the study, all players were starters and competed regularly. Women’s tennis was chosen because the coach was supportive of sport psychology and agreed to have his team participate in the intervention. All participants volunteered to take part in the study and signed informed consent statements.

Measures

Both quantitative (i.e., questionnaires) and qualitative (i.e., goal-setting logs and interviews) methodologies were used in the study to more broadly assess interven-tion effectiveness. Four trait measures were used, and each was selected as the most psychometrically-sound instrument available to identify potential changes in mental training tools and skills across the intervention. Traits are predisposi-tions that are hypothesized to change slowly over time, and they reflect changes in mental and physical skills and not just temporary fluctuations in performance,

432 Vidic and Burton

often attributable to variability in situational factors (Vealey, 1992). Without special programs designed to modify these traits, it typically takes 6 months or more to see changes under normal circumstances. However, with an intense MST intervention, that process can be speeded up significantly, typically yielding positive results in 12 weeks (Ulmer & Burton, 2010). For a time-limited 8-week intervention, changes in trait measures clearly were more difficult to demonstrate.

Although using state measures can be an appropriate method of demonstrat-ing intervention effectiveness, several conditions must be satisfied to ensure their appropriateness. First, state measures are more responsive to situational factors, so fluctuations in scores may reflect changes in situational variables more than sys-tematic change in mental and physical skills. Thus, comparable situations must be identified for data collection to minimize situational influences on measures, and in this case, collecting baseline data in practice and posttest data at a highly competi-tive regional match in Week 8 would have created major situational differences that could confound data. Second, state measures must provide more data points to assess trends, with pre- and postintervention measures being less important than overall trends. In this case, the Fall season had only three competitions, with the first occur-ring during Week 4. Thus, trait measures seemed to provide a more representative indication of intervention effectiveness, despite the reduced chance to demonstrate significant changes across only 8 weeks. However, qualitative data were used to provide corroborating data to the positive trends in quantitative dependent measures.

Sport Motivation Scale (SMS). The Sport Motivation Scale (SMS) by Pelletier, Fortier, Vallerand, Tuson, and Briere (1995) was used to measure intrinsic, extrinsic and amotivation in sport. The SMS is comprised of seven 4-item subscales measuring three types of intrinsic motivation (i.e., intrinsic motivation to know, to accomplish, and to experience stimulation), three types of extrinsic motivation (i.e., identified, introjected and external regulation), and a single amotivation subscale. Participants respond to items on a 7-point Likert-type scale from 1 (low) to 7 (high), with subscale scores ranging from 4 to 28 and higher scores indicating higher levels of intrinsic, extrinsic and amotivation. Vallerand and Fortier (1998) found solid reliability and validity for the SMS across a range of studies with collegiate athletes. Internal consistency for the SMS is acceptable, with Cronbach’s Alpha coefficients ranging from .63 to .80 (mean = .75; Vallerand & Fortier, 1998), despite marginal Alpha coefficient for the identified-regulation. Confirmatory factor analysis also documented the factorial validity of the SMS with good to excellent fit indices (Vallerand & Fortier, 1998).

Task and Ego Orientation in Sport Questionnaire (TEOSQ). The Task and Ego Orientation in Sport Questionnaire (TEOSQ) was developed by Duda and Nicholls (1992) to assess participants’ motivational orientation in sport. The TEOSQ is comprised of 13 items divided into two subscales: a seven-item task orientation subscale and a six-item ego orientation subscale. Respondents rate each item on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree), with higher scores indicating higher task and ego orientations. Both the task and ego subscales have demonstrated acceptable internal consistency (i.e., Alphas ranging from .77–.91; Duda & Whitehead, 1998). Additional research (Duda, Chi, Newton, Walling & Catley, 1995; Duda & Whitehead, 1998) has further confirmed the TEOSQ’s reliability and validity with collegiate populations.

The Roadmap    433

Athletic Coping Skills Inventory-28 (ACSI-28). The Athletic Coping Skills Inventory (ACSI-28) was developed by Smith, Schutz, Smoll and Ptacek (1995) to assess various psychological coping skills from a sport perspective. The 28-item ACSI-28 is comprised of seven 4-item subscales that measure: coping with adversity, peaking under pressure, goal setting/mental preparation, concentration, freedom from worry, self-confidence/achievement motivation, and coachability. All seven subscales can be totaled to yield a Personal Coping Resources score, which reflects a multifaceted psychological coping construct. ACSI-28 items are rated on a four-point Likert-type scale from 0 (almost never) to 3 (almost always), with subscale scores ranging from 0 to 12 and composite scores ranging from 0 to 84. Higher scores correspond to higher subscale and Personal Coping Resource scores. This scale has demonstrated acceptable Alpha reliability ranging from .66 to .78 (i.e., mean Alpha = .70) considering the generally lower reliabilities for scales assessing mental skills (i.e., the concepts are broader and more inclusive, sometimes combining two mental skills into a single subscale, compared with instruments measuring a single construct such as anxiety), as well as acceptable convergent and construct validity with collegiate team and individual sport samples (Smith et al., 1995).

Trait Sport-Confidence Inventory (TSCI). The Trait-Sport Confidence Inventory (TSCI) was designed by Vealey (1986; 1988) to measure trait self-confidence in sport. TSCI items examine the certainty that athletes possess about their ability to be successful in a series of challenging sport situations. The TSCI is a self-report inventory that consists of 13 items that participants respond on a 9-point Likert scale from 1 (low) to 9 (high), resulting in subscale scores ranging from 13 to 117, with higher scores indicating higher levels of trait sport-confidence. The TSCI has been extensively validated with high school, collegiate, and adult samples, demonstrating alpha reliabilities consistently above .90 and solid concurrent, construct and predictive validity with high school and collegiate samples (Feltz & Chase, 1998; Vealey, 1986).

Tennis Goal Setting Log (TGSL). The Tennis Goal Setting Log (TGSL) was developed for this investigation to ensure that players set and evaluated their goals regularly (i.e., daily and weekly). Each log form contained a section for recording three weekly goals and evaluating their attainment. In addition, a comment section was included for athletes who wanted to elaborate on their weekly goal attainment. Participants were also asked to use a ten-point Likert-type scale to evaluate their current performance level, perceived goal difficulty, and goal achievement (i.e., each 1 (low) to 10 (high), during each practice or competition. Finally, athletes were asked to calculate their average goal attainment for the week (i.e., daily goal attainment was calculated by dividing the number of goals attained by the number of goals set, and daily goal attainment was averaged for the week).

Tennis Post Intervention Exit Interview (TPIEI). The Tennis Post Intervention Exit Interview (TPIEI) was a semistructured interview schedule designed specifically to assess players’ perceptions of the goal-setting program’s effectiveness, using three standardized open-ended questions, including: (1) What do you think of the goal-setting process? (2) Did you use the goal-setting process to achieve the performance success that you wanted: (a) during practice?, (b) during matches?

434 Vidic and Burton

and (c) outside of tennis? (3) How much has goal setting impacted your: (a) motivation? and (b) self-confidence?

Tennis Demographic and Background Inventory (TDBI). The Tennis Demographic and Background Inventory (TDBI) was a short questionnaire developed for this investigation and consisted of three questions assessing age, gender, and year in school.

Procedure

The focus of this investigation was to evaluate the impact of the ‘roadmap’; a unique systematic action plan for promoting greater goal-setting success. The procedure for this study is described in two sections, with Section 1 detailing the goal road-map intervention program that was conducted, and the second section describing assessment of goal-setting intervention effectiveness.

Roadmap Goal-Setting Program for Tennis. A team goal-setting program was developed and implemented during the Fall collegiate tennis season for all six members of a collegiate women’s tennis team. At an initial team meeting, both theory and research supporting the effectiveness of goal-setting were introduced, and the season-long roadmap approach for attaining long-term goals was described. An individual goal-setting program was then introduced in which athletes set weekly goals for practice, competition, physical conditioning, and lifestyle. At the end of each week, athletes met with the coach and consultant for 20–45 min to evaluate their goals, and they then used that evaluation to help focus their goals for the next week.

Weekly goals were recorded in the player’s logbook, evaluated daily and weekly, and new goals were developed based on the assessment of the amount of weekly progress made. Concerns and problems that arose the previous week, or in recent competitions, were discussed and appropriate solutions were developed. Coaches also kept an identical master logbook and provided their own weekly evaluations of athletes’ goal attainment, with a section for each athlete in which they independently evaluated each player’s goal attainment. During the 8-week intervention, goals were monitored for length, specificity, difficulty, and successful attainment, and feedback and assistance were provided to help players adjust goals.

Evaluation of Goal-Setting Program Effectiveness. All team members completed the SMS, TEOSQ, TSCI and ACSI-28: (a) at the beginning of season, and (b) postintervention at the end of the 8-week Fall season. Qualitative and quantitative analysis were built into athletes’ daily goal setting log. In addition, athletes’ logs, coach logs, and ethnographic notes taken by the consultant during weekly individual meetings provided additional data on program effectiveness. Because performance goals in tennis are not easily measured objectively, coaches’ subjective evaluations were used to examine players’ progress on their process goals. Coaches’ evaluations were completed in a systematic way using weekly goal-setting sheets and providing daily feedback to athletes about adjustments that needed to be made on their goals. Finally, interviews with each participant were completed following the Fall season to qualitatively evaluate goal intervention effectiveness.

The Roadmap    435

Because it was not feasible to have a control group in this study, a pattern matching targeting strategy was used to measure intervention effectiveness (Campbell, 1975). Thus, targeted variables were predicted to demonstrate greater positive changes compared with nontargeted variables (see Table 1 and Figure 2). This strategy provides a way of ruling out other rival hypotheses such as maturation and the ‘halo’ effect. Because extensive research (Burton & Weiss, 2008, Locke & Latham, 1990; Ulmer & Burton, 2010) confirms that goal-setting enhances motivation and self-confidence, targeted variables, such as task/ego orientation; intrinsic, extrinsic and amotivation; ACSI-28 subscales for goal-setting/mental preparation and self-confidence/achievement motivation, and trait self-confidence, were predicted to be conceptually most sensitive to intervention effects. Nontargeted secondary variables (i.e., five ACSI-28 sub-scales measuring coping with adversity, peaking under pressure, concentration, freedom from worry, and coachability) were expected to be less affected by this intervention protocol.

ResultsResults of this goal setting intervention are presented in three parts. First, a case study representing an athlete with moderate commitment to the program is pre-sented. Due to space limitations, only one athlete case study could be presented, and this athlete represented a typical or average response to this intervention, although some athletes had somewhat better or worse results with their personal goal-setting programs. Second, to offer a more complete picture of the entire sample, cross-case analysis data are reported that document goal effectiveness for all six players in the study. Finally, a content analysis was conducted on qualitative data to examine how players believed their goal-setting program impacted their motivation and self-confidence.

In presenting data in both case study and cross-case analysis sections, it seemed more efficient to qualitatively characterize what the scores represented as well as the amount of change in scores from pre- to posttest. Because norms are not available for any of the instruments used, we attached labels to the scores based on the possible range of scores. Specifically, scores on the lower end of the range (i.e., bottom 20% of the distribution) were labeled low; scores on the upper end of the range (i.e., top 20% of distribution) were labeled high; and scores in the middle range of the distribution (i.e., middle 20%) were labeled moderate.

Case Study: Ann

As an accomplished junior performer, Ann had been the number two ranked junior player in her section. Nevertheless, coaches determined that Ann’s game still needed work, and new skills had to be developed for her to be competitive at a collegiate Division I level. Entering her sophomore year, Ann’s roadmap targeted five key areas to refine her game, including: Intermediate Goal 1 (IG-1) consisting of developing mental skills that would help her with the tendency to get overaroused.

436

Tab

le 1

A

nn

an

d T

eam

’s P

re-

and

Po

st-I

nte

rven

tio

n M

ean

s fo

r A

ll D

epen

den

t Var

iab

les

Ann

Bea

Clo

eD

ebE

lliFr

anTe

am

PR

EP

OST

PR

EP

OST

PR

EP

OST

PR

EP

OST

PR

EP

OST

PR

EP

OST

PR

EP

OST

Task

Ori

enta

tion

3.8

4.0

4.7

4.4

4.6

5.0

4.5

4.0

4.9

4.8

5.0

4.6

4.6

4.5

Ego

Ori

enta

tion

2.0

2.8

2.6

3.3

4.3

5.0

2.5

3.0

2.7

3.2

2.8

2.4

2.8

3.3

IM-K

now

16.0

18.0

18.0

21.0

10.0

9.0

26.0

23.0

20.0

25.0

27.0

28.0

19.5

20.6

IM-A

ccom

plis

h22

.022

.022

.020

.013

.021

.028

.025

.018

.023

.528

.028

.021

.823

.5

IM-

Exp

erie

nce

Stim

ulat

ion

19.0

20.0

20.0

23.0

25.0

22.0

28.0

22.0

19.0

23.0

25.0

22.0

22.6

22.0

EM

-Ide

ntifi

ed

Reg

ulat

ion

14.0

17.0

24.0

15.0

4.0

13.0

23.0

22.0

16.0

18.0

23.0

20.0

17.3

17.5

EM

-Int

roje

cted

R

egul

atio

n15

.818

.014

.018

.06.

014

.026

.025

.012

.020

.011

.019

.014

.119

.0

EM

-Ext

erna

l R

egul

atio

n12

.09.

017

.016

.07.

59.

020

.020

.012

.016

.016

.019

.014

.014

.8

Am

otiv

atio

n8.

27.

015

.015

.07.

04.

012

.017

.010

.09.

010

.010

.010

.410

.3

Tra

it Se

lf-

Con

fiden

ce69

.073

.089

.083

.026

.054

.087

.067

.072

.078

.066

.064

.068

.269

.8

AC

SI-G

oal-

Setti

ng9.

09.

04.

08.

03.

09.

012

.011

.08.

09.

010

.010

.07.

38.

6

AC

SI-S

elf-

C

onfid

ence

7.0

8.0

9.0

10.0

5.0

8.0

9.0

11.0

9.0

7.0

9.0

8.0

8.0

8.6

AC

SI-C

opin

g w

ith

Adv

ersi

ty6.

06.

04.

010

.04.

04.

011

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.04.

08.

05.

05.

05.

77.

2

AC

SI-P

eaki

ng

unde

r Pr

essu

re6.

08.

05.

011

.04.

05.

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05.

05.

06.

08.

06.

07.

6

AC

SI-C

once

n-tr

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06.

06.

08.

07.

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05.

01.

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from

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ry3.

06.

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08.

7

    437

Figure 2 — Ann and team pre- to post- intervention change for all dependent variables.

(continued)

438

(continued)

Figure 2 — (continued)

The Roadmap    439

Figure 2 — (continued)

This goal was accomplished by providing her with specific process-oriented self-talk guidelines (i.e., self-talk scripts and cognitive reframing) and arousal control strategies (i.e., relaxation techniques). Ann’s Intermediate Goal 2 (IG-2) focused on playing more aggressively and developing an offensive style of play, and this goal was attained by setting process goals for timing, enhanced footwork skills, positive and negative horizontal movement and swinging vertically. Ann’s Inter-mediate Goal 3 (IG-3) focused on fitness development with process goals focusing on endurance, quickness, and stamina. Ann’s Intermediate Goal 4 (IG-4) focused on advanced tactical play (i.e., appropriate offensive-type shot selection), and her process goals included education about appropriate offensive-type shot selection to play the ball on the rise inside the baseline. Finally, Ann’s Intermediate Goal 5 (IG-5) emphasized the fine-tuning of advanced strategy and tactics and develop-ment of attacking skills. Her process goals for that intermediate goal were transition strokes, volleys and overheads.

Based on coaches’ observations, Ann’s biggest mental skills deficiency was her tendency to become overaroused to the point that it hurt her performance. Thus, Ann’s IG-1 focused on setting process goals, controlling arousal and enhancing self-talk, including: relaxation techniques, self-talk scripts, and cognitive refram-ing. Each tool or skill was introduced during the first 3 weeks and worked on the remainder of the season. Coaches observed that Ann was motivated to implement the mental skills goals during practice and competition. Her progress, however, was marked with some ups and downs. Coaches believed that if given more time, Ann would have been able to implement her mental goals more fully and control her overarousal better.

As Ann’s lower body mechanics and footwork improved, positive changes were evident in IG-2 to develop an offensive style of play by Week 6. With Ann’s physical development goal (IG-3; improvements in endurance, quickness, and stamina), coaches noticed only minimal progress during the intervention primarily

440 Vidic and Burton

because she was reluctant to fully embrace this goal beyond the benefit it had on her appearance. However, coaches observed that Ann achieved significant improve-ment on IG-4 for advanced tactical play. Initially Ann had difficulty reinstating previously-acquired defensive patterns of play and shot selection, so her practice regimen was adjusted to help automate these tactical goals. Based on coaches’ evalu-ations, Ann was able to execute these skills the majority of the time with surprising confidence by the second week implementing IG-4. Ann’s IG-5 featured further development of attacking skills (i.e., transition shots, volleys, and overheads). Even though extensive development of IG-5 was not expected before the Fall Individual Regional Championship (Week 8), coaches’ observations revealed that Ann did surprisingly show great progress in this area and was able to successfully attack and finish points at the net during the Regional Championships.

As evidenced by her pretest scores, Ann began her MST intervention program as a moderately motivated and confident athlete (see Figure 2). Overall, Ann made good progress on her mental skills training, with results becoming evident in how she played by Week 6. By Week 8 at the Regional Championships, her mental skills were beginning to be reflected in her performance, which paralleled consistent increases in her motivation scores. Although initially high on task orientation and intrinsic motivation, Ann’s motivation increased even more during the goal-setting program, suggesting that she placed higher priority on process/performance than outcome. As expected, she demonstrated an increase in task orientation (i.e., 3.8 pretest to 4.0 posttest) and a moderate increment in ego-orientation (i.e., from 2.0 to 2.8), making her moderately high in task and moderate in ego orientation (see Figure 2). In addition, Ann’s intrinsic motivation scores increased to an average of 20 points across the three subscales, putting her into the moderately high range (see Figure 2). Her extrinsic motivation scores increased by three points on two scales but declined for external regulation. Thus, Ann’s average score for the three extrinsic motivation subscales increased to a moderate level (i.e., from 13.9 to 14.6; see Figure 2). In addition, her amotivation decreased modestly (i.e., from 8.2 to 7.0; see Figure 2). Ann personally felt that the goal-setting program helped her become more motivated during practice and matches, concluding, “Goal setting motivates me a lot, because it makes me focused. When you work on things, you can see yourself getting better; not necessarily winning or losing, but accomplishing your goals, or at least, improving on them.”

These positive changes in intrinsic and extrinsic motivation were reflected in Ann’s score for the ACSI-28 goal-setting/mental preparation subscale which remained moderately high (i.e., 9), whereas the self-confidence/achievement moti-vation subscale increased to the moderately high range (i.e., 8; see Figure 2). In addition, Ann’s trait sport-confidence score also increased four points to 73, even though she remained in the moderate range (see Figure 2). Coaches’ observations suggested Ann’s self-confidence increased significantly more throughout the season than her TSCI score indicated, enabling her to better implement new mental and physical skills into her competitive play. Ann confirmed her positive self-confidence gains during her posttest interview, emphasizing, “It helps your self-confidence... when you see yourself improving, you are more motivated, so it definitely helps.” In terms of the intervention’s secondary variables, only three of seven ACSI-28 subscales revealed positive increments (see Figure 2).

The Roadmap    441

Cross-Case Analyses

Over this 8-week intervention, the roadmap approach to goal-setting resulted in improvements in both the physical and mental skills of all six players (see Figure 2). The first intermediate goal that featured mental skills was shared by all six players, and each demonstrated moderate to extensive progress on this goal. Task orientation remained consistently high at posttest for all players (i.e., a slight decrease from 4.6 to 4.5), with ego-orientation increasing for four athletes (i.e., an increase from 2.8 to 3.3). Although a decrease in ego orientation would seem to be a desirable outcome, research indicates (Burton et al., 2001; Georgiadis, Biddle & Auweele, 2001; Kingston & Hardy, 1994) that elite athletes often display a combination of high task and high ego orientations. As expected, the majority of athletes showed a modest increase in average intrinsic motivation scores (i.e., 21.3–22.0), while extrinsic motivation decreased for three athletes and increased for the remaining three players, resulting in each player being moderately extrinsically motivated (i.e., 15.1–17.1). ACSI-28 subscale scores for goal-setting/mental preparation and self-confidence/achievement motivation improved for five and three players respectively. Average scores for all six players for goal-setting/mental preparation increased from 7.3 to 8.6 and for self-confidence/achievement motivation improved from 8.0 to 8.6. The average trait self-confidence score for all six players also improved modestly from 68.2 to 69.8. Even though secondary variables were expected to be impacted less strongly and extensively compared with primary variables, most players did demonstrate improvement on most nontargeted variables (Figure 2).

The second intermediate goal of developing an offensive style of play was introduced to all players at the same time. Despite encountering initial difficulty with stroke mechanics, court positioning and timing, all six players were able to attain and maintain this goal with considerable success by the end of the intervention.

The third intermediate goal focused on fitness training, and each player made moderate progress on this goal, which helped improve their performance on the tennis court.

The fourth intermediate goal featured advanced tactical play and was shared by all six athletes in the intervention. Despite experiencing difficulty in overcoming their preexisting patterns of play, considerable progress was made on this goal as players were able to shift to a new offensive style of play. All six players shared the same Intermediate Goal 5 that focused on developing an attacking style of play. Even though players started to make solid progress on this goal, it was not introduced until Week 6, which left insufficient time for full goal attainment.

Content Analysis of Qualitative Data

This content analysis of qualitative results provides further evidence about the effectiveness of this roadmap-based goal-setting intervention. All qualitative data were used for these analyses, with the major portion of the data extracted from the post intervention interviews. Emphasis was focused on overall effectiveness of the goal-setting process and how goal-setting influenced motivation and self-confidence. Meaningful goal-setting quotes were extracted from a variety of data sources, including interviews and player and coach logs, and categorized inductively

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until a set of distinct lower and higher-order themes emerged. As a credibility check, the categories were identified independently by the two authors and areas of disagreement were discussed and reconciled. The three higher-order themes that emerged were general goal-setting effectiveness, motivational enhancement, and self-confidence development.

General Goal–Setting Effectiveness. For the general goal effectiveness category, two lower-order themes emerged, including: (a) improved focus and (b) process-orientation. For ‘improved focus’, one athlete reported, “I know what specifically to work on, and it’s more fun. It helps me stay focused during practice, which helps me a lot because I have the tendency to drift. You always know what you need to work on which helps you keep focused. It kept me on track for what I needed to do and where I needed to be in the future.”

Another athlete discussed competitive focus and concluded, “Especially during the match, goal setting needs to be more important just because you are nervous. So if you can just focus on something, just three things, or even less than that, then it will take away the nervousness more.”

In addition, athletes felt like goal-setting helped them focus on the process more than the product as they developed as tennis players. One player noted, “It has been very beneficial for me and in my approach to tennis and in my approach to the tournaments that I have been playing. Even though I lost that match, I accomplished my goals, and I walked off feeling good. My whole attitude towards playing has changed. It just gives you something else to focus on rather than just on winning, winning, winning.”

Another athlete reiterated, “We have three goals that we are working on so you just think about that all the time, especially if you miss the shot. Then you can think about how you could have done it better with your goals and then even use it during the match. Especially during the match, goal setting needs to be more important just because you are nervous. So if you can just focus on something . . . then it will take away the nervousness.”

Another athlete added, “I think it (goal-setting) is a good thing because you know what to do and you think about doing it.”

For the higher-order theme of using goal-setting to enhance motivation, two lower-order themes emerged during content analysis, including: (a) sense of achievement and (b) identifying direction. One player’s sense of achievement was reflected in this quote, “Goal-setting motivates me because when I start the goal I want to achieve it, and just the feeling of achieving a goal is worthwhile. So setting goals has impacted my motivation.”

Another athlete noted, “It also helped me to want to get better, you know to get like 100% on the goal and to go on to the next goal.”

Another athlete added, “It is more positive, but then when I don’t achieve my goal, I am not down because I know what I need to work on. I know that you cannot achieve all three goals in a week, so I think it is positive.”

In terms of goal-setting helping impact athletes’ motivation by providing direc-tion, one athlete indicated, “Goal-setting helped my motivation a lot. If I didn’t have the goals, I would sort of be stuck, and I wouldn’t know where to go, or what I would be trying to do in a match.”

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Another athlete emphasized, “You think that you are going to play the match to win, but if you have no idea how are you going to win that match, then there is no point. But it is easier when you have got something to focus on. Then even if you lose, you can still say look, ‘I think I achieved my goals.’ Even if I met one goal, let’s say to play offensively, you still have two more to go.”

Another athlete concluded, “My motivation has been impacted very much... I am more motivated when I know that I have a goal…This made me to want to practice, to go to practice and to work on my goals. It just helped me to want to play, to want to improve my tennis.”

Finally, the third higher-order theme was how goal-setting helped boost players’ self-confidence, and two lower-order themes emerged during content analysis, including (a) improvement and (b) perseverance. One player’s improve-ment approach to enhancing confidence was reflected in this quote, “When you accomplish a goal, you become more confident in yourself…it’s made me a more confident player.”

Another performer noted, “…If you are working really hard and you see the results because your goals are there…then your self-confidence increases.”

Another perspective was suggested, “It helps your self-confidence, because if you are working on something 3-4 hours a day, you are going to improve…so when you see yourself improving, you are more motivated, so it definitely helps.”

Another athlete emphasized, “If you achieve a goal, maybe you feel like you can do that thing, and so confidence improves.”

A final player concluded, “It gave me self-confidence more in my matches, because I had three goals, I practiced them, and then I knew I could go in the match and do it.”

In terms of how goal-setting impacted athletes’ self-confidence through per-severance one athlete emphasized, “It’s good for your self–confidence because it (goal-setting) can be both good and bad. Sometimes it can let you down–not down, more frustrated because you can’t reach them. But it still gives you something to work towards. You still are going to say, ‘look I need to work towards it, to keep trying’. When you do finally reach it, somehow it gives you that belief that you can do something, that it does get better, especially if you put work into it.”

Another athlete concluded, “If you are working really hard and you see the results because your goals are there…then your self-confidence increases and you say: ‘I can do this, I can do anything,’ not just in tennis, but you can use your goals in other aspects of your life.”

Discussion

This investigation had two primary objectives: (a) to test the feasibility of developing an easily implemented roadmap model of goal-setting, and (b) to assess the impact of using a goal roadmap intervention to enhance the motivation, confidence and development of collegiate women tennis players. Although the quantitative data provides solid support for the effectiveness of this systematic goal-setting interven-tion, the qualitative data provided the greatest support for the ‘roadmap’ approach. Individual post intervention interviews provided a great deal of information about

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athletes’ experiences with the intervention, the ‘roadmap’, and its impact on their tennis development. Athletes consistently reported that the ‘roadmap’ approach to developing action plans enhanced their goal-setting experience by providing direction and focus in how to use goals to acquire new skills as well as a systematic process to guide their tennis development. These findings further support conclu-sions of goal setting reviews (i.e., Burton et al., 2001; Burton & Weiss, 2008; Ulmer & Burton, 2010) that stress the importance of systematic use of the right type of goals and appropriate goal implementation strategies as a way of increasing goal effectiveness.

Specifically, players emphasized several keys to their success, with the invest-ment of time that the coaches made in ensuring program success being the most important to them. The individual attention provided in this goal-setting program fostered an atmosphere where the athletes were motivated to take ownership of the goal-setting process, thus increasing clarity, eliminating ambiguity and enhancing skill development. Their comments also revealed that goal-setting is not as simple as it appears on the surface. To be effective, goal-implementation initially needs a significant commitment of time by both coaches and athletes to teach skills (i.e., develop process goal orientation), provide direction and evaluate progress. As goal setting is mastered and skills are automated over the initial several months of the program, the process becomes self-fueling and less of coaches’ time is needed to keep the program working effectively. Overall, these findings further support Burton and colleagues’ (2001) conclusion that developing systematic action plans and evaluating goals regularly are two critical steps in the goal implementation process.

Moreover, setting the ‘right’ kind of goals that fostered development of mas-tery orientations among both athletes and coaches contributed to the intervention effectiveness. Coaches reported being surprised at how much more powerful this goal-setting intervention was compared with previous seasons’ less organized attempts, especially in terms of a creation of a more positive team environment and mastery-oriented climate. By focusing on specific process goals, athletes were prompted to focus on their own mastery rather than social comparison with their teammates, resulting in positive changes in team climate. This finding further supports results by Burton et al., (1998) and Burton & Weiss (2008) who showed that process-oriented goals promote mastery-oriented climates, resulting in higher levels of intrinsic motivation, confidence and athlete development.

Positive changes were also observed in athletes’ motivation for both practice and competitive goal-setting. In addition, coaches reported that athletes displayed more enthusiasm for and enjoyment of goal-setting and were better able to deal with competitive challenges than previous seasons, a finding that is consistent with putting emphasis on achieving process rather than outcome goals (Burton & Weiss, 2008). In addition, consistent with Burton and Weiss’ (2008) conclusions, understanding that process/performance goals are much more controllable than outcome goals in tennis seemed to provide a standard for evaluating success that enhanced players’ motivation to attain their goals. Goal-setting was therefore help-ful in a variety of ways, including: increasing players’ motivation, acquiring new skills, increasing understanding of the game, coping with competitive pressures, improving self-confidence and ultimately enhancing performance. Interestingly, coaches reported that the initial significant investment of their time and energy decreased over time as players acquired goal-setting skills, became more indepen-

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dent and developed greater intrinsic motivation. In conclusion, the effectiveness of the intervention supported previous findings (Burton et al., 2001; Burton & Weiss, 2008) that setting the right type of goals as well as employing appropriate goal implementation strategies are important steps in ensuring goal effectiveness.

Limitations and Implications

The use of a pretest-posttest design that included administration of four self-report questionnaires seemed to be an effective method for assessing intervention-induced changes. However, this procedure could lead to response bias and promote response distortion. Because of the intense nature of the intervention and the collaborative relationship between coaches/consultants and athletes, the potential for these con-founds should have been significantly reduced. However, the same relationship may have resulted in an increased risk of the Hawthorne effect in which participants, intentionally or unintentionally, reported greater degrees of improvement due to increased amounts of time coaches spent with players, regardless of the nature of the intervention. Although it is hard to determine the impact of the Hawthorne effect on results in this study, observations revealed that athletes were involved in the process, had a high degree of personal investment, and demonstrated increasing enthusiasm for the intervention over time, reducing the possibility of the Haw-thorne effect impacting results. Qualitative data are perhaps the most powerful support for the effectiveness of the systematic goal-setting program, particularly its ability to enhance motivation, confidence and development, while discounting the Hawthorne Effect.

Another possible limitation of this study is its small sample size which reduced statistical power and made the demonstration of group differences using inferential statistics inappropriate. Thus, assessment was conducted using an individual case study approach that employed a combination of quantitative and qualitative data to present a more in-depth picture of intervention effectiveness.

On the surface, motivation results present moderately strong support for the effectiveness of this goal-setting program. However, these findings are somewhat misleading because of the expected pattern of change across the intervention. Because of the intense nature of the intervention and the amount of new skills that players had to acquire, as well as the adjustment these freshmen and sophomores were making to Division I tennis, an initial decline in motivation was expected for the first 4–5 weeks followed by a strong ‘rebound effect’ during weeks 6–8. Ulmer and Burton’s (2010) review of intervention research found a strong relationship between intervention length and treatment effectiveness, with longer interventions much more effective than shorter ones. However, despite the shortness of the intervention, most of the targeted variables demonstrated moderate improvement, which further speaks for the effectiveness of the intervention. However, a longer intervention would probably have produced more reliable results for testing the value of goal implementation strategies, particularly where changes in attitudes and values were necessary.

This study has a number of practical implications for the researcher and practitioner. Future researchers may want to further explore how the ‘roadmap’ and coordinated goal-length programming impact motivation, confidence and/or performance in other goal setting programs with different sports, ages and ability

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levels. The importance of developing a systematic action plan to promote goal implementation is often overlooked and underutilized. The findings of this interven-tion support the effectiveness of the roadmap approach to systematic action plan development for promoting improved goal implementation. These concepts may also generalize to many other fields besides sport. Furthermore, continuing this goal setting program over subsequent seasons would allow examination of how returning participants could mentor newcomers, reducing coach monitoring time while increasing intervention effectiveness by enhancing “buy-in” and commitment.

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