Learning to play golf under different goal conditions: their effects on irrelevant thoughts and on subsequent control strategies

Abstract

Volitional and self‐handicapping theories suggest that individuals use various strategies to energize the maintenance and the enactment of goals. We placed 32 golfers (16 men and 16 women) alternately in four golf proficiency conditions using a randomized complete block design: task involvement, learning, achievement, and one‐on‐one competition goals. As expected, the path analysis showed that one‐on‐one competition goals generate irrelevant thoughts (anxiety, threat to self‐esteem, distraction) as well as the subsequent bringing into play of control strategies (emotional control, attentional control, self‐handicapping strategies). Conversely, task involvement goals not only exclude intrusive thoughts but hinder the implementation of control strategies. These results are discussed in terms of the attentional processes induced by motivational goals and their subsequent volitional and self‐handicapping strategies. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The trichotomous model and investment in learning to prepare for a sport test: A mediational analysis

“…State anxiety. Thill and Cury's (2000) four-item measure (Appendix C) was used to assess state anxiety.…”

Psychological Characteristics and Their Relation to Performance in Professional Golfers

“…Finally, integrative studies used one or two of the above factors in a context of a golf performance (Beauchamp P., et al, 1996;Beauchamp M., et al., 2002;Catley & Duda, 1997;Cumming, Hall, Harwood, & Gammage, 2002;Gaudreau & Blondin, 2004a, 2004bGaudreau et al, 2002;Thill & Cury, 2000). Two studies can be distinguished because of their use of an experimental design (Beauchamp et al, 1996;Thill & Cury, 2000). Beauchamp et al (1996) examined the effect of a 14-week golf-teaching program on the motivation, preparation, and putting performance of novice golfers.…”

“…The results indicated that the cognitive-behavioral group presented higher levels of intrinsic motivation, a more consistent use of preputt routines and better putting performance as compared with the 2 other groups. Thill and Cury (2000) used a similar design with recreational golfers and found that a motivational context of one-on-one competition leads to anxiety and distraction, whereas a taskinvolving context excludes intrusive thoughts and is negatively related with selfhandicapping. Using a correlational design with a sample of recreational golfers, Catley and Duda (1997) studied the psychological antecedents of flow and found that preround measure readiness variables (calm, positive focus, confident readiness and pessimism) as well as golf skill level were significantly related to the frequency and intensity of flow.…”

Volitional Regulation and Self-regulated Learning: An Examination of Individual Differences in Approach-Avoidance Achievement Motivation

“…A study by Thill and Cury (2000) may shed light on why such differences failed to emerge. The authors found social comparison goals (similar to performance-approach goals) to be associated with greater distraction and anxiety during a task and the utilization of strategies to control intrusive thoughts.…”