ABSTRACT
The scientific or theoretical rationale for promoting goal setting as an effective motivational tool was based on work in industrial and organisational psychology. Consequently, Locke’s 1968 ‘theory’ of goal setting led to a broader interest in the utilisation of goals, primarily in the industrial and organisational sector, but more recently in the context of sport. Here it has prompted theory testing, the objective of which has been to establish a reliable basis for the promotion of the technique within sports settings and with sports performers (Hall and Kerr, 2001).
