“It’s not handcuffing the athlete to success or failure”: Sport psychology practitioners’ use of nonspecific goals in applied contexts

Sport psychology practitioners (SPPs) are often educated/encouraged to set specific goals when working with athletes. Nevertheless, researchers have indicated that athletes use nonspecific goals in applied settings and that nonspecific goals can enhance performance and various positive psychological outcomes. However, researchers have yet to explore SPPs’ experiences with, and perceptions of, using nonspecific goals when working with athletes. To address this knowledge gap, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 12 SPPs who had provided sport psychology support to athletes for an average of 13.42 years (SD = 11.30). Findings from our content analysis showed that the SPPs perceived open goals (e.g., “to see what you can do”) and range goals (e.g., “to run between 40-60 minutes”) to be more beneficial than do-your-best and as-well-as-possible goals. Despite differences in perceptions across various types of nonspecific goals, the SPPs reported that all nonspecific goals were used in several situations (e.g., situations of adversity) for multiple reasons (e.g., performance/situation uncertainty). The SPPs perceived that all nonspecific goals could reduce maladaptive psychological responses, increase positive psychological responses, facilitate personal growth, and enable greater flexibility/freedom. However, SPPs perceived that all nonspecific goals could lack clarity and imply a lack of confidence in athletes. Our findings capture key differences across various types of nonspecific goals while highlighting the situations/reasons that SPPs used nonspecific goals to facilitate positive athlete outcomes. Given the perceived benefits of nonspecific goals, we suggest that different types of nonspecific goals could be considered as additional/alternate goal-setting interventions in sport. Sport psychology practitioners perceived that nonspecific goal types were useful in many situations and can lead to several psychological benefits as –well as disadvantages. They highlighted preferences for open goals (e.g., “see how well you can do”) and range goals (e.g., “to run between 40-60 minutes”) over do-your-best goals and as-well-as-possible goals. Sport psychology practitioners should consider using nonspecific goals as an additional goal type to specific goals.Not all types of nonspecific goals should be used in an overarching or uniform manner. Indeed, open goals and range goals were perceived to be more beneficial and useful in a wider range of contexts/situations.Sport psychology practitioners should consider athlete preferences, contextual factors, and their own personal beliefs/philosophies when deciding to use nonspecific goals when working with athletes. Sport psychology practitioners should consider using nonspecific goals as an additional goal type to specific goals. Not all types of nonspecific goals should be used in an overarching or uniform manner. Indeed, open goals and range goals were perceived to be more beneficial and useful in a wider range of contexts/situations. Sport psychology practitioners should consider athlete preferences, contextual factors, and their own personal beliefs/philosophies when deciding to use nonspecific goals when working with athletes.