Objectives: This study examined: (a) whether athletes' goal orientations differ across training and competition; (b) whether goal orientations predict effort, enjoyment, and psychological skill use differently in training and competition; and (c) whether goal orientations predict perceived improvement in training and perceived performance in competition.Method: Participants were 116 competitive tennis players (mean age = 19.99, SD = 5.82), who completed questionnaires measuring goal orientations, effort, enjoyment, and psychological skill use in training and competition, perceived improvement in training, and perceived performance in competition.Results: Dependent t-tests revealed that athletes reported higher task orientation in training than in competition and higher ego orientation in competition than in training, while Pearson product-moment correlations revealed a high cross-contextual consistency for both task and ego goal orientations between training and competition. Regression analyses indicated that task orientation predicted positively effort, enjoyment, self-talk, and goal setting in both contexts, perceived improvement in training, and perceived performance in competition. An interaction effect also emerged whereby ego orientation predicted positively effort in competition only when task orientation was low or average. Conclusions:The findings suggest that goal orientations may differ between training and competition; task orientation is the goal that should be promoted in both contexts; and the context may affect the relationship between goal orientations and effort, enjoyment, and goal setting.

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Training and competition are two important contexts within the sport domain. In this study, we examined: (a) consistency and differences in goal orientations across the training and competition contexts and whether these are moderated by sport type; and (b) whether goal orientations predict effort, enjoyment, and trait anxiety differently in the two contexts, and whether sport type moderates these relationships. Participants were individual- (n = 145) and team-sport (n = 203) athletes, who completed questionnaires measuring goal orientations, effort, enjoyment, and trait anxiety in training and competition. Both task and ego orientation showed medium-to-large consistency across the two contexts for individual- and team-sport athletes. Athletes in both sport types reported higher ego orientation in competition than in training, but did not differ in task orientation. Task orientation predicted effort positively in training. However, in competition, this goal predicted effort positively only in individual-sport athletes who had low ego orientation. Task orientation also predicted enjoyment positively in both contexts; however, in competition this prediction was significantly stronger in individual than in team-sport athletes. Ego orientation also predicted enjoyment positively in competition in both individual- and team-sport athletes. Finally, task orientation predicted trait anxiety negatively in competition but only in individual-sport athletes. The findings highlight the importance of making the distinction between training and competition, and individual and team sports when examining motivational processes in sport.

This study examined: (a) whether athletes' (N 5 348) perceived autonomy support (i.e., showing interest in athletes' input and praising autonomous behavior) differs across contexts (training vs. competition) and sport types (individual vs. team sports), and (b) whether the relationships between autonomy support and effort, enjoyment, and anxiety are affected by context and sport type. Perceived autonomy support did not vary across contexts, but interest in athletes' input was higher in individual than in team sports. Praise for autonomous behavior was associated positively with effort only when interest in input was high, and this effect was stronger in training than in competition. Finally, praise for autonomous behavior was also positively related to enjoyment in training, while interest in input was positively associated with anxiety in individual sports.

This study examined whether (a) adolescent (Mage = 15.13, SD = 1.55) team-sport athletes' (N = 137) perceived motivational climate, moral disengagement, and prosocial and antisocial behaviour differ in training and competition contexts, (b) moral disengagement mediates the relationship between motivational climate and prosocial and antisocial behaviour in training and competition, and (c) indirect effects between motivational climate, moral disengagement, and prosocial and antisocial behaviour are moderated by context. Repeated measures ANOVA revealed that athletes reported higher performance climate and antisocial behaviour in competition than in training, whereas mastery climate, moral disengagement and prosocial behaviour did not differ between contexts. Moderated mediation analysis revealed that the relationships between mastery climate and antisocial behaviour, and between performance climate and antisocial behaviour, were both mediated by moral disengagement in both contexts. No mediation effect was moderated by context. The findings of this study contribute to a better understanding of personal and contextual influences on athletes' moral functioning in sport.