Goal-setting effects on Basketball shot learning Goals can be divided into generic goals and specific goals. Generic goals belong to the group “do your best”, while the specific goals are well defined and preferably quantitative. This strategy for goal-setting has been used with elite athletes, but little is known about its effects on motor skills learning. This question was investigated in a real teaching situation, during physical education classes, with children (n=166) of the elementary school (11 years old), divided in three experimental groups: generic goals (MG), specific goals (ME) and without goals (SM) in the task basketball shot. The ANOVA two way (3 groups X 2 tests) with repeated measures has just indicated a significant difference in the second factor f (1,142) = 18,031 and p < 0,05. Moreover, the another ANOVA conducted for the relative variation coefficient (CVR) (3 groups x 2 tests) showed that this measure went down significantly from the pre to the post test. According to the results, the goal setting didn’t help the learning of sports skills. The results are discussed in relation to the subjects’ skill level and the process and product goal setting.