If-Then Planning in Sports

Abstract

Abstract. If-then planning (implementation intentions) describes a self-regulatory strategy that helps people to attain their goals across a variety of domains, such as achieving physical activity goals. Based on such beneficial effects, if-then plans are anecdotally discussed as a strategy to enhance sports-related performance as well. However, this discussion currently lacks an empirical basis. We therefore conducted a scoping review to identify experimental research on the effects of if-then planning on sports-related performance, potential moderators of these effects, the methodological approaches used, and the suitability of the available evidence for assessing the effectiveness of if-then planning in sports. Based on a search of four online databases, we identified a set of 11 studies that investigated if-then planning in experimental research with sports-related performance as an outcome measure. Six of these studies focused on if-then planning in endurance tasks, whereas the remaining studies investigated sports performance in domains that do not revolve primarily around endurance (e. g., tennis, golf, darts). The samples were often small and comprised university students; the conclusions drawn regarding the effectiveness of if-then planning for improving sports-related performance were rather heterogeneous. Still, most studies did shed light on tentative mechanisms (e. g., perceptions of effort and pain, arousal) and moderators (e. g., athletes’ beliefs about their performance limits, the feasibility of the behavior) of if-then planning in sports, guiding future research regarding the question of when and for whom if-then planning might be a beneficial strategy. Based on these findings, we identify the potentials and pitfalls of using if-then plans to enhance sports-related performance, discuss promising routes for future research, and derive practical implications for athletes and coaches.

Boredom Proneness Predicts Self-Assessed Decision Errors in Sports but Is Unrelated to Risk Taking in General

“…To better understand the potential role of boredom in sports, it is instructive to focus on its function for human behavior in general [ 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 ]. In a nutshell, recent functional accounts on boredom—defined as the aversive experience that arises when an individual wants to engage in more satisfying activities but fails to do so [ 15 ]—argue that boredom operates as a signal to signify that whatever one is currently doing is not satisfying enough and one should rather attend to something else [ 16 ].…”

Boredom proneness predicts self-assessed decision errors in sports but is unrelated to risk taking in general

“…To better understand the potential role of boredom in sports, it is instructive to focus on its function for human behavior in general [11][12][13][14] . In a nutshell, recent functional accounts on boredomdefined as the aversive experience that arises when an individual wants to engage in more satisfying activities but fails to do so 15 -argue that boredom operates as a signal to signify that whatever one is currently doing is not satisfying enough and one should rather attend to something else 16 .…”

Inner Obstacles and Goal-Directed Behaviors of Elite and Youth-Level Cyclists: A Qualitative Analysis From the Perspective of Athletes and Coaches

“…Making if-then plans is an important component of successful goal attainment across different domains (e.g., physical exercise, Bélanger-Gravel et al, 2013;health, Adriaanse et al, 2011;Bélanger-Gravel et al, 2013;Orbell & Sheeran, 2000; see Gollwitzer & Sheeran, 2006 for a metaanalysis, and Bieleke, Keller, & Gollwitzer, 2021 for a recent review). Accordingly, it has been suggested that if-then planning might also be a relevant self-regulatory strategy in sports in general and in endurance sports in particular (Bieleke, Wolff, et al, 2021). Indeed, the beneficial effects of if-then planning rest primarily on automating both the detection of critical situations and the initiation of goaldirected behaviors (Gollwitzer, 2014) -attributes that are likely crucial for effective self-regulatory control in endurance sports (e.g., to deal efficiently with the urge to quit even under high levels of stress; Wolff et al, 2019).…”

“…Considering the suitability of implementation intention theory as a conceptual framework and its well-established effectiveness as a self-regulatory strategy, interventions based on the theory have so far produced surprisingly inconsistent results in endurance sports and other sports domains (Bieleke, Wolff, et al, 2021). Concerning endurance, for example, if-then planning has been observed to enhance performance in some tasks (e.g., a group weight-holding tasks, Thürmer et al, 2017; posture-holding tasks, S. Wang et al, 2019), but not in others (e.g., static muscular endurance tasks, Bieleke & Wolff, 2017;Hirsch et al, 2020;Wolff et al, 2018;cycling tasks, Hirsch et al, 2021;Latinjak et al, 2018).…”