Let your athlete set their own goals or work with their coach to set some. When a parent sets the goals for the athlete, the ownership of the goal—and the joy the athlete feels when they achieve it—is significantly compromised.

Maybe you could ask your child if they have some academic or social goals. Tackling a challenging book chapter by chapter is a great way to illustrate the patience, dedication, and hard work it takes to reach a goal.

Frustrated by a last-place performance in the meter butterfly in a big meet, Riley emerged from the pool in tears. She had been intimidated by the competition, and let it get the best of her.

Her revelation based on that experience? Have your child write down their goals, and then have a discussion again, they lead about how they might reach them, helping them break them down into smaller chunks. Check in with your child on their goals periodically.

If you saw your athlete realize a piece of their goal—or their entire goal—during practice or a competition, definitely compliment them. If need be, help them readjust it so they can taste success. She lives in Denver with her husband, two kids, and one dog.

Find her on Twitter dimityontherun. Sign up for the TrueSport Newsletter and receive a FREE copy of our Sportsmanship Lesson. Team USA wheelchair basketball player, paralympian, and true sport athlete. Today, I want to talk to you about goal setting. And there are three things that I would like you to know.

First, successful athletes set goals and a planned roadmap. Second, goals should be written down, assessed over time, and changed if necessary. And third, goals need to be challenging in order to be worthwhile. As a freshmen at Edinboro University, I was a part of a team that made the national championship game.

And at that time I recognized I was the low man on the totem pole, but I felt in my heart that I knew my dreams were so much bigger than winning a national title. I wanted to make Team USA. I knew what achieving my lofty goal was not going to be easy and that I would need to work hard every day.

So, as a reminder, I created a pyramid of goals that I kept right above my bed. This pyramid reminded me of the accomplishments that I was working towards and visually represented my need to create a solid foundation underneath me before reaching the top.

The middle row listed winning a national title and playing for a professional team. And at the top row, the most challenging of them all, I listed becoming a gold medalist for Team USA.

By understanding that there are smaller stepping stones to achieving my ultimate goal of being on Team USA, I was able to stay motivated and to stay focused on completing the smaller stepping stones fully before moving onto the next one.

Remember, create a clear goal roadmap, assess your goals often, and continue to challenge yourself. I hope that you never stopped dreaming big or reaching for the stars. And I look forward to seeing where your roadmap takes you.

First, healthy thoughts often lead to healthier bodies. And third, true beauty goes deeper than the skin. My coaches and I adapt to my training frequently, all with the goal of supporting my long-term success and health in the sport of javelin.

In the lead up to the Olympic trials, I was told in order to improve my performance on the field, I should try to become a leaner, skinnier version of myself.

So I changed my diet. And I believe becoming leaner than my body naturally wanted to be was what caused my ACL to tear. In the end, it cost me heavily going into the London games. You should do your research and experiment with your diet to find what makes you feel the best, rather than focusing on what you look like.

Today, if I feel like having a chocolate chip cookie, I have one, just not every day. I hydrate and allow myself time to recover. And I listen to and communicate with my body so that I can be the best version of myself. When they decide…. Methods to Help Young Athletes Set Goals There are many methodologies when it comes to setting goals with young athletes for their progression.

Some of these are: Set SMART goals. SMART is an acronym that stands for Specific, Measurable, Adjustable, Realistic, and Time-Based. Every goal you set should be set in the SMART framework.

This allows for clear expectations regarding the goal at hand and gives children structure. Differentiate the outcome and performance goals. Outcome goals are based on outperforming peers or winning a specific match.

Performance goals are based on personal improvement. Break it down into steps. If you are helping a young athlete reach a long-term goal, such as running a particularly difficult race, you need to break it down into smaller goals that will help the child achieve the final goal.

Children should have daily goals, short-term goals to be hit every months , and finally a long-term goal, which can be the large event at hand.

Encourage parental support. What happens after practice is as important as what happens during. Periodic check-ins. After setting goals, you should be checking in with the athlete periodically to review progress and adjust where necessary. Conclusion Supporting young athletes on their journey to self-improvement is a worthwhile cause.

Think of a completed puzzle like the outcome that's trying to be reached. In order to get that completed puzzle, you have to focus on putting every single piece in its correct spot. In the same way, for the young athlete to get the outcome they want in their sport, they must focus on all the small pieces that will take them there.

With process goals, these can be broken down into weekly goals and also daily goals. The daily goals will be goals set for practices and games. We'll talk more about this later on when I introduce the strategy for setting goals. Now the reason process goals are so important is because of the focus they provide the young athlete.

Outcome-oriented goals, if set on a long-term scale, provide motivation to train and compete. But on a small, daily scale, the athlete's focus needs to be completely centered on what they're doing. That's what process goals help them do. They give them clear targets to focus on each day, no matter if it's a training day or a competition day.

By keeping their attention in the present, the young athlete reduces many mental blocks that keep them from actually reaching the long-term goal they've set. Outcome-oriented goals and process goals both have their place.

What the young athlete must do is make sure they are using each specific goal the correct way, to ensure it doesn't result in more harm than good. So, what I'm going to do is break down a goal setting strategy your young athlete can use to make the most of both long-term outcome-oriented and process goals.

We know that when it comes to setting outcome-oriented goals, these are going to be on a larger scale. Meaning, they aren't going to be achieved this week, next week, or likely even next month. With the example I gave earlier about the young swimmer, her long-term goal is set for years in the future.

Once they've answered those questions, have them narrow it down to one or two long-term goals. Since this is going to serve as motivation for training and working hard, you want them to get very specific about what they want to achieve.

It's going to be easy for them to list off five or six things they'd like to accomplish, but what we're after is one or two that are the most meaningful and important. If they only set one outcome-based goal, that doesn't mean it'll be the only thing they accomplish.

Of course they're going to have many achievements along the way. But the main idea behind setting a long-term, outcome-oriented goal, is to provide the young athlete with motivation. So when things get tough or they feel like quitting, they can remind themselves of their long-term goal and keep pushing.

Once a young athlete has set a long-term goal based on the outcome, it's time for them to turn their attention onto the process that will get them there.

Just like with the completed puzzle, it's all the small pieces put together that give them the outcome they want. By focusing more on the process, they will also experience a reduction in many mental blocks that hold them back and take the fun out of the game. Such as, anxiety, fear of failure, and perfectionism.

Now, to get your young athlete to begin focusing more on the process, you want to first get them to understand what's actually within their control. Because that's another thing, you don't want them setting process goals that are out of their control.

For example, if you have a young softball player, she may have set the long-term goal of hitting. So, she may then think a good process goal is to get a hit for today's game. Yeah, that's a nice goal and something she'll naturally want, but it's not fully within her control, so we need her to get even simpler than that.

A great exercise to begin with is to have your young athlete list out everything that's within their control in terms of their sport. You see how each of those examples are part of the process of their game, but they're also completely within the athlete's control?

So, have your young athlete list out everything that's in their control and part of the process.

Ultimately it is worth the effort to overcome these obstacles and coaches should highlight the value of goal setting for athletes to help them achieve optimal performance. Goal setting can be one of the most important skills to teach athletes in order to help them optimize their performance.

It can help them focus on what is important and give them a sense of control and positive self-direction. SMART goals can help athletes gain confidence and believe in their ability to succeed. Goal setting can improve performance, influence motivation, and help athletes reach their potential.

Metrifit helps coaches get to know their athletes, and helps athletes get ready to perform. Our new lifestyle profiling functionality is based on years of experience in this area — we know the key factors that underlie optimal performance.

This is available for coaches and teams but also for individual athletes. It provides an essential baseline to assess where you are, and set goals and objectives to improve in key areas that ultimately will improve your performance. Follow us on social media where we post regular blogs related to sports, performance and well-being.

Coach - Sweden Climbing, Olympic Offensive - Female Coach Swedish Olympic Committee, Senior Lecturer - Coach education programme Sweden. Why Goal Setting is Important by Kelly Bourne. Goal Setting in Sport and Exercise: A Research Synthesis to Resolve the Controversy by L.

Blaine Kyllo and Daniel M. The Application of Goal Setting to Sports by Edwin A. Locke University of Maryland Gary P. Latham University of Washington.

Goal setting helps athletes perform — an excerpt from Fundamentals of Sport and Exercise Psychology by Alan Kornspan. Goal Setting by David Harrison. Principles of Effective Goal Setting by Eva V.

According to Rutgers Youth Sports Research Council, effective goals have a high priority and are few in number. While a young athlete may have many things to master, setting too many goals tend to diffuse their focus. It is recommended to set performance rather than outcome goals.

Performance is what the athlete controls, while outcomes are frequently controlled by others. However, effectively stopping the opponent from scoring may depend on the speed, agility and skill of the other player. Here are some general guidelines to consider:. The number of goals an athlete should set is subjective, with effective goals being prioritized and limited in number.

Several factors, including age, experience, and sport, influence the ideal number of goals. Implementing guidelines such as SMART criteria, concentrating on a few key goals, considering age and development, and incorporating a mix of short-term and long-term objectives, contributes to a well-rounded goal-setting strategy.

Individualization, regular feedback, and consultation with coaches and mentors play crucial roles in refining and achieving these goals, fostering a balanced approach to skill development, physical conditioning, and mental preparation.

Follow this blog and on social media, coachrich8 on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter to learn critical life skills through youth sports. Available at Amazon. Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Type your email…. Continue reading. Here are some general guidelines to consider: Make SMART Goals -Goals should be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. This allows them to concentrate their efforts and make meaningful progress.

Age and Development Level: Younger athletes may benefit from having fewer goals, as they are still developing their skills and physical abilities. As they gain experience and maturity, they can handle more complex goals. Short-Term vs. Long-Term Goals: Youth athletes should have a mix of short-term and long-term goals.