The Value Of Effective Goal Setting

If you knew setting goals would boost motivation, direct attention, behaviours, and attitudes, increase effort and persistence, and produce a higher sense of team cohesion where players play better together and work harder for each other, would you commit to setting goals every season? Well, buckle up and get ready to start setting goals. Because that is exactly what you can achieve by simply setting goals.

Ok, well it isn’t that simple. But, if you set the right goals and spend the required time evaluating your goals regularly, the payoff is substantial. So much so that it has been suggested that goal setting is the most effective and important strategy for building a successful sports program.

Whilst this sounds amazing, it must be said that setting just any goal will not produce the outstanding results you are after. In fact, research has shown for goal setting to be effective coaches need a thorough understanding of the goal setting process and what makes goals significant.

Effective Goal Setting

The keys to effective goal setting are as follows:

• Goals must be ambitious, but realistic to be most effective.
• Including athletes in the process increases their commitment to the goals.
• Set goals for both the individual athlete and the team as a whole.
• Goals must be clear to athletes and coaches alike.
• Goals should be stated in positive terms, ie increase shooting percentage, as opposed to not miss as many shots.
• Both short-term and long-term goals are required, where the short-term goals represent the incremental steps towards achieving the long-term goals.
• As well as stating the outcome of the goal, the process for achieving the goal should also be set out. This is referred to as process and performance goals. Process goals describe how a skill should be performed. For example, follow through on a shot. And performance goals describe how well a skill should be performed. For example, achieve a shooting percentage of 75 percent.
• Goals must be regularly evaluated and adjusted accordingly to unforeseen circumstances, such as injuries or advances in techniques or equipment.

This is of course a time-consuming process. However, research has shown that if goal setting is executed effectively, as stated above, then teams and players achieve everything that was stated earlier and more.

“Goals. There’s no telling what you can do when you get inspired by them. There’s no telling what you can do when you believe in them. And there’s no telling what will happen when you act upon them.”

Jim Rohn

Below is a link to an article that discusses these processes in a little more detail and adds some additional tips for effective goal setting. To gain an edge over the rest of the competition, gain a deeper understanding of this process and spend the required time on making goals that drive your sports program.

If you are having problems accessing this link please let us know.

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