Prospective relations between 2x2 achievement goals and the quality of sport training

Athletes will ideally plan their training to ensure physical readiness for their next training bout and competition; however, different self-regulatory strategies may lead to different behaviors during training (e.g., using mental training strategies vs. using alcohol). Drawing on a contextual perspective, this study investigated whether athletes' 2 X 2 achievement goals predicted the quality of their training over the following six weeks. Female track and field athletes (N = 71) rated their 2X2 achievement goals at the beginning of their indoor season, completed bi-weekly behavior surveys, and maintained daily diaries for six weeks. Pre-season mastery-approach achievement goals predicted consistently beneficial training processes, whereas performance-based goals were unrelated to training processes. Mastery-avoidance goals were positively associated with daily sport-related distress, whereas mastery-approach goals were negatively associated with daily sport-related distress. These findings suggest that defining competence in mastery-based terms is generally valuable for sport training provided that those goals are oriented toward the positive possibility of competence and not away from the aversive possibility of incompetence.