Goal Setting
What common traits do these four
athletes share?
Where are you going?
 What is your journey?
 Where are you now?
 Where do you want to get to?
Where are you going?
“Excuse me, Sir,” Alice inquires
“Could you tell me which road to
take?”
Wisely, the caterpillar asks," Where
are you going?” Somewhat
dismayed,
Alice responds, “Oh, I don’t know
where I am going, Sir.”
“Well,” replied the caterpillar, “if you
don’t know where you are going,
it really doesn’t matter which
road you take.”
(Alice in Wonderland – Lewis Carroll)
Goal Setting - Why bother setting goals?
 What is my personal
journey?
 How am I going to get
there?
 Long term vision and
short term motivation
 Theory of motivation - - energises athletes to
become more
productive and
effective
Why set goals?
1. Suffer less from
stress and anxiety
2. Concentrate better
3. Show more self
confidence
4. Perform better
5. Are happier with their
performances
What do you see?
What don’t you see?
What’s beneath the surface??
Goal Hierarchy
PERSONAL SUCCESS
CONTROL
OUTCOME
PERFORMANCE
PROCESS (1%’s)
How do we set productive and
effective goals?
 Task : Write down one goal that you have set
yourself for this season / year
 What type of goal have you set yourself?
 Outcome / Result oriented (Ego orientation?) e.g.
To be selected for GB TEAM / To break 60secs for
100m free
 Performance / technically oriented (Task
Orientation?) e.g. To achieve the National
Qualifying Time in 100 and 200 Backstroke.
 Process Goal / training goals (task oriented) e.g.
To develop my acceleration between 0-5 metres
Goal: To become a better swimmer
Goal – “To become a better swimmer”
 Surface – worthwhile; too general, impossible to
measure, vague as to how or when the goal will be
achieved
 Skill analysis (Performance Profile, coach) – six-beat leg
kick weak
 New and improved goal : In training to achieve 65%
freestyle and backstroke swimming with a six-beat leg
kick and 90% of kicking drill with a six-beat leg kick.
 Short Term goal – In training to achieve 55% of
swimming with six-beat leg kick & 85% kicking drill with a
six-beat leg kick.
 Are goals acceptable to the athlete? (Ownership!)
 Goal setting staircase
Setting Goals – the rules !








SMARTER
Specific
Measurable
Agreed
Realistic
Time phased
Elastic
Recorded
 Research (1999) :
College-aged soccer
players assigned to
one of five goal groups
(a,b,c,d & e)
 Five weeks of training
followed, two groups
out-performed the
others (improvement);
one group showed little
or no improvement
Common Goal Setting problems
 Set more goals for
competition than for
practice
 Set goals that are too
difficult, creating stress
 Set too many goals
 Task oriented
performers motivated
by self improvement
goals & ego-oriented
performers more
motivated by outcome
goals
Where do I go from here?
 Creating a personal
goal plan
 Setting process &
performance goals
(Controlling the
controllables)
 How will I monitor goal
progress?
 Will I need to re-adjust
my goals?
How will YOU become a winner?
Girls
Boys