Conducting Your Mid-Season Review
At the end of each season, most coaches conduct an end-of-season review. The purpose of this review is to look back at the end of the season and reflect on what could be improved for next season. But, wouldn’t it make sense for us to do that at the halfway point of the season so that we can make any necessary changes now, rather than later? We call this a mid-season review.
At this point in the season we can reflect on the games we have won and lost so far and the goals we have achieved or missed. This will help us identify the things we have done well and where we need to improve if we want to finish the season off stronger than we have started.
Coming up is a process you can follow to conduct your mid-season review.
Review your goals
In an ideal situation, you would have created a thorough season plan that contained a number of short, medium, and long-term goals. If you have, now is another great time to review your progress and accomplishments. When measuring the success of our goals we need to review two things. The process we followed to achieve the goal and the outcome of the process.
For each goal that has passed, did you follow the process that you set out to make the goal a success? If you did that is fantastic. But if you didn’t, why not? Identify the reasons you strayed from your process and how you can stay on track next time.
Secondly, did you achieve your goal? If you did, again great job. But if you didn’t, why not? Identify the reasons you failed to meet your target and come up with solutions on how you can do better next time.
After reviewing the goals that have passed, review your progress towards the goals you are still working towards. Again, review your process and progress towards achieving your goals. Use the lessons you just learned from the goals you have already reviewed to ensure you achieve your upcoming goals.
Adjust your goals as required
Now is also a great time to amend your goals if required. If the goals you have set are not challenging enough, up the ante so that you are achieving more this season than you first thought you could. And if you’re struggling to achieve your goals, make them more achievable so that you are accomplishing something.
Just like training for your athletes, if your goals are too difficult you achieve and learn nothing. If they are too easy you won’t improve. So, you need to find the perfect balance to be constantly challenged while still being able to achieve your goals.
Setting mid-season goals
If you didn’t set any goals at the beginning of the season, it’s never too late. Take a look at the second half of the season and identify what you would like to achieve in it. You may have learned some valuable lessons from your mid-season review that you want to address in the second half of the season. Use this to set your goals.
If you need some assistance setting goals for the second half of your season, read our article “The Value Of Effective Goal Setting” and register for our free coach training “How To Plan And Execute The Greatest Season Ever”.
Check in with yourself
During your mid-season review, you should spend some time reflecting on your own well-being. Is the day-to-day battle of coaching getting to you? If it is, then it’s time to change things up. Some things you can ask yourself that could make a healthy change are:
- Can you delegate more tasks to assistant coaches, team staff, players, or parents?
- Would a change of training venue for a week or two mix things up and create a new energising environment around the team?
- Would you benefit from some time off? Could your assistant coaches take the reigns for a week or two while you spend some time with yourself or your family?
- Could you initiate a whole of club training session where senior players took training and gave the coaches a night off?
It’s important to understand how crucial it is for you to be at the top of your game. If you are, it inspires everyone else on the team to lift. However, if the season is getting the better of you, your players and staff will be able to see it and it will likely deflate them as well. That is why if you’ve had a tough first half of the season the best thing you could do is take some time to get yourself back on track.
Action Steps
- Lock in a time for you and your assistant coaches (if you have any) to conduct a mid-season review.
- Reflect on the season so far and if you had set goals, review your results.
- Identify what you have done well so far this season and what you need to improve. It’s also important to determine why things have gone well or not so well.
- Put into place a plan for the changes you are going to make in the second half of the season.
- Take some time off or mix things up to re-energise yourself for the second half of a long season.
Need some assistance?
If you’d like some help conducting your mid-season review check out our Mid-season progress Workshops. We conduct private workshops for clubs and workshops for individuals. No matter where you are in the world, via our online visual collaboration platform, we can assist you. For more details visit our Coaching Workshop’s page.
