Setting specific goals makes beginners improve faster

The summary today

There is a single experimental test of the question, and it dates from 1979. Forty university students from three beginners' classes are randomly assigned to two groups of twenty: for ten weeks the first group set written score and technique goals every week, while the second only have a group conference with the instructor. Among the thirty who see it through, adjusting for starting level, the average of the mid-course and final tests is 37.1 points per six-arrow end at 20 yards in the first group against 32.0 in the second, and at the final test the raw means are 40.3 against 36.6. Three details matter as much as the result: at mid-course the advantage is not there yet, 33.0 against 33.2, and it appears only at the final test; exclusions are heavily unbalanced, two out of twenty in the goal-setting group against eight out of twenty in the other, and a group that loses two archers in five can shift its average for that reason alone; and nobody has repeated the experiment since. The only later data, from 2026, are a correlation in fifteen young Indonesian archers between a goal-setting scale and training scores, which does not say which comes first and does not concern beginners.

Also phrased as: "goal setting in archery"; "goals for beginners"; "setting goals in training"; "specific goals for archers"

Evidence

• 1979
  For Archers Published later

  Forty Wayne State University students enrolled in three beginners' classes, randomly assigned to two groups of twenty for ten weeks; thirty are analysed, 18 against 12. Those who set written score and technique goals every week have a mean adjusted for starting level, across the mid-course and final tests, of 37.05 points per six-arrow end at 20 yards, against 31.95 for those who only had a conference with the instructor (F(1,27) = 5.31, p < 0.05); at the final test the raw means are 40.26 against 36.62. At mid-course, though, the two groups are level, 32.97 against 33.18, and the group by time interaction is not significant (F(1,28) = 3.85): the advantage appears only at the final test.

  Effects of Goal Setting on Achievement in Archery · Mary L. Barnett, Jean A. Stanicek

• 1979
  Context Archers Published later

  In the same experiment those excluded from the analysis are 2 out of 20 in the goal-setting group, none through withdrawal, against 8 out of 20 in the conference-only group, 7 of whom withdrew for poor attendance; the authors do not test the difference. At the final test the spread is also smaller in the goal-setting group, standard deviation 6.49 against 9.14, again untested. Exclusions this unbalanced can shift the final comparison on their own.

  Effects of Goal Setting on Achievement in Archery · Mary L. Barnett, Jean A. Stanicek

• 2026
  Context Archers Published later

  Fifteen archers at a student sports training centre in Central Java: those who report more structured goals also have higher average training scores, r = 0.575, p = 0.025. They are not beginners and there is no intervention, and a correlation does not give the direction: those who shoot better may simply have clearer goals.

  The Correlation of Self-Confidence, Concentration, and Goal Setting with Routine Training Scores among Archery Athletes at BPPLOP Central Java · Richa Lintang Amtajawi, Heny Setyawati, Tommy Soenyoto

Status history

1. 1979 Reported The first and so far only experiment: forty university students from three beginners' classes, randomly assigned to two groups of twenty for ten weeks. Those who set written score and technique goals every week average, adjusting for starting level, 37 points per six-arrow end at 20 yards across the mid-course and final tests, against 32 for those who only have a conference with the instructor. At mid-course, though, the advantage is not there yet, and the exclusions are unbalanced, two out of twenty against eight out of twenty, which weakens the comparison among the thirty who remain. It is a randomised trial, but a single one: reported.
2. 2026 Reported In almost fifty years nobody has repeated that experiment. The only addition is a correlation in fifteen Indonesian archers at a youth training centre, who are not beginners, between a goal-setting scale and their average training score: 0.58. It does not give the direction, because those who shoot well may simply report clearer goals, and it says nothing about how fast anyone learns. The status does not move: reported.

Related

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Research lines

• 35 studiesTeaching and learning archery: sixty years of instructional trials
• 52 studiesMental training: what has been tested on archers since 1979

Other claims in this domain

• ReportedA larger working memory does not make an archer more accurate3 studies · 79 archers measuredStatus since 2012
• ReportedA longer quiet eye improves shooting accuracy3 studies · 58 archers measuredStatus since 2017
• ReportedA mental profile tells archers apart from athletes in other sports only in part5 studies · 550 archers measuredStatus since 2018
• ReportedA mental training programme improves the elite archer's mood1 study · 16 archers measuredStatus since 2023
• ReportedA mental training programme reduces burnout in elite archers1 study · 16 archers measuredStatus since 2023

See all claims on mind and attention