By Corinne Hobbs & Chelsi Ricketts
Michigan State University, Institute for the Study of Youth Sports
The days leading up to New Year’s Eve are often filled with people discussing their “resolutions” for the new year. The phrase “new year, new me” gets tossed around in conversations about personal visions for the upcoming year. Coaches and athletes do the same thing at the beginning of a new season. Setting goals is a valuable part of preseason preparation.
Setting goals can be a very helpful tool for coaches. Goals can help coaches create expectations for the season and motivation for their athletes. Goals are often used to get everyone on the same page before the season begins. Goals are written on whiteboards or post-it notes, so that they can be referred to throughout the season. This is a common tactic, but what happens after that goal planning session is over? How do the goals that get set impact team actions throughout the season?
The goal of this article is to provide specific information about what goals are and how they can be used to influence team motivation. There are many different types of goals and goal setting strategies, all with different applications. This article will discuss the goal setting process and most importantly, provide suggestions on how goals can be used beyond the preseason for coaches and athletes.
What Are Goals?
Imagine yourself on the sidelines, watching your determined team take the field. What keeps you motivated to lead them in their growth and success? What drives them to improve their skills and chase those big wins? The secret lies in a simple but powerful concept: goals. Goals serve as our compass, guiding our path to victory. They are objectives or targets that steer our actions towards success1. They are like trusty navigators, guiding us towards success every step of the way.
The Theory Behind Goal Setting
Setting and sticking to goals is not always easy, even though they are about achieving desired results. It takes effort to set goals and stay committed to them, with the level of effort depending on their difficulty. It is best to aim for goals that challenge us but that are still achievable based on our capabilities1. For instance, if you and your athlete want to improve shooting accuracy in basketball, setting a goal to increase free throw percentage from 70% to 75% by the end of the season is achievable yet challenging. This goal pushes the athlete to improve without overwhelming them with an unrealistic target, like aiming for a 90% free throw percentage, which could lead to discouragement if not attained.
Setting specific goals works wonders for leveling up skills and performance compared to vague goals. Individuals who set goals that are specific perform better than those who are just told to do their best2. Setting a goal to run a 5K race in under 25 minutes provides clearer direction compared to simply aiming to run faster in a 5K. “Faster” could mean anything, making it difficult to track progress. Think of specific goals as your GPS – they give you a clear destination and help you focus your efforts to get there3.
Thinking about the timing of our goals is important. We can have short-term goals, like winning a single game, and long-term goals, like winning the championship4. Short-term goals act like steppingstones to reach long-term goals. They keep us focused on what we need to do now and keep us motivated for the long run5. Imagine a basketball team aiming to win the championship. To get there, they set short-term goals like improving passing accuracy and mastering defense. Achieving these smaller goals helps build the skills they need to become champions.
When coaches and athletes collaborate on setting goals, everyone is on the same page about what they want to achieve. Athletes are more likely to stick to goals that they were involved in setting, compared to goals that were assigned to them6. So, if a coach wants to boost team adherence, involving athletes in setting goals can really amp up engagement, compared to just telling them what to do. It’s like a team adventure where everyone is excited about the destination because they all had a say in choosing it!
Goals: The Key to Staying Motivated
Goal setting is like the secret ingredient for boosting motivation in sports. It is simple to implement and improves performance by enhancing motivation2. It comes down to setting the right type of goals that align with what success looks like for the individual athlete and the team. For some, success may be about mastering skills, while for others, it’s the thrill of winning. In the middle, there is a sweet spot, where success is considered a perfect blend of both. To find the right balance for goal setting with your team, it is important to understand what success means to your athletes, while thinking about your own view of success.
Setting mastery goals may be particularly relevant for athletes who are focused on personal improvement and skill development. This type of goal enhances motivation by fostering a sense of progress and competence, especially when learning new skills7. Performance goals may be better suited for athletes striving for specific performance outcomes, driving them to persist and exert effort5, especially if they have already mastered the necessary sport skills7. Encouraging an environment in sport where athletes can set both types of goals promotes ongoing growth and success. For example, a long-distance runner may strive to improve their endurance and pacing (mastery goal) to secure a top-three position in the upcoming 5k race (performance goal). To do so, they may go for long runs, which serve as a process goal supporting their mastery and performance objectives.
When setting mastery and performance goals, consider whether they are about achieving positive outcomes (e.g., mastering a skill) or avoiding negative outcomes (e.g., preventing a loss). Deciding on whether to approach or avoid an outcome can depend on your mindset, how much control you think you have over the situation, and even past experiences with successes or failures. Even so, it is usually better to aim for positive outcomes because they encourage persistence when things get tough7.
Steps to Putting Goals in Motion
Half the challenge of effective goal setting is understanding what goals are and how they can be utilized for the benefit of athletes, teams, and coaches. However, once there is an understanding of the fundamentals it then becomes time to put that knowledge into practice. Using a framework can help set intentional goals that can be leveraged for motivation and the behavior change required to accomplish said goals. The following steps will help explain how goals can get off the whiteboard and onto the court, field, or competition surface.
Step 1: Setting Goals
The first step is defining the goal. Just like when you start a road trip, it helps if you know where exactly you want to go. Setting goals is the equivalent to plotting your season long road trip. There is an ultimate destination, bathroom breaks along the way, and strategies for staying engaged during the drive. All these things are important for a successful adventure. Goal setting sessions should include coaches and athletes and are beneficial to conduct during the preseason. There are many preexisting frameworks to help you set goals with your team. We offer a few to help you start your journey.
The SMART goal method refers to the characteristics that should be used in defining goals. According to this method goals should be specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely. A specific goal is one that very clearly articulates the desired outcome. For example, “I want this team to be good” is not very specific. A team’s “goodness” could be relative to a variety of things such as attitude or grades. However, identifying the desire for the team to be successful competitively is a more specific goal. Furthermore, you can make this goal relevant to a specific outcome measure (i.e., I want us to win 60% of the games we play). The goals you set as a team should be challenging, but attainable. A challenge gives your team something to work for each day, but keeping the goal attainable helps ensure you find success along the journey. Goals should be relevant to you and your team, which is the larger reason you want to accomplish this goal (i.e., I want us to win at least 60% of our games because I want our team to improve from their record last year). And lastly, goals should be set in relation to a certain time frame to provide extra motivation in accomplishing your goals.
SMART goals are useful in helping set intentional goals. However, SMART goals focus on a single outcome goal. The stair-step framework takes this larger goal in mind and then proceeds to create smaller goals that will help aid in the journey to accomplish the larger goal. The stair-step framework involves specifying an intentional outcome goal, followed by 2-3 performance goals throughout the season, and a handful of specific process goals that can be used in daily practice. The outcome is at the top of the stairs (that’s the final destination). Performance goals are the rest stops that provide an opportunity to reflect and readjust depending on performance. For example, are your runners dropping the time at the rate you expected? Did you win that dual meet that you wanted to? Performance goals can help you adjust process goals, which are at the bottom of the stairs, propelling you up. Process goals can include behavioral expectations (e.g., arriving to practice 15 minutes early) or specific skill acquisition goals (e.g., shooting 20 free throws at the end of every practice). Process goals can help teams accomplish their performance goals, which can help them accomplish their outcome goal.
Regardless of the framework being used, it can be helpful to post a summary of the goals in a shared space, such as a locker room or equipment closet. Sharing goals visibly helps ensure everyone is aware of the group’s mission. It also provides coaches with a beneficial reference point once the season gets underway.
Step 2: Goals Guide Practice
The reason we set goals is to help guide behavior. As a coach, you can use the goals that you and your team set to plan practices or team events. If defense wins championships, coaches can design practice to include specific drills to help their team develop championship level defense from the start of the season. This can take creativity and involves knowledge of your sport. However, the way coaches structure practice helps bring goals off the whiteboard and onto the competition surface for their athletes.
Goal guided behavior can be accomplished through setting normative routines or creating habits among players. Doing a bit of yoga or stretching following long runs can help runners prioritize recovery in this way. Encouraging athletes to arrive to practice early or stay late can instill intrinsic motivation to improve technical skills. The habits you and your athletes create can assist in your journey toward accomplishing your goals. Asking athletes how they can improve by 1% each day is a useful strategy to create beneficial habits that will compound over time.
Step 3: Checking in on Goal
Once the destination is set and the route has been selected, it is important to check in with the GPS to determine any route changes that can impact the journey. Goals are not static; they can evolve and change depending on the circumstances. It is important to check in on the work being done in relation to your goals. Are certain drills helpful? Are your athletes making progress (performance goals) or are they experiencing burn out? Does the strategy need to be changed up (process goals)? Or does the outcome goal need to be changed?
A group can change their goals slightly based on performance if the new goals are still challenging enough to allow players to work towards achieving that goal. If the championship seems out of reach, perhaps redefining what success looks like to the group is useful (e.g., we want to finish in the top five of our conference; we want to send 2 individuals to state). Setting up intentional reflection times can allow the group to adjust course accordingly before hitting the traffic jam. This can look like a bi-weekly coaches meeting that focuses specifically on goal progress. Or you can get the athletes involved by having weekly reflection time after practice. Using journals, anonymous write ins, or open discussion can help encourage the athletes to utilize their voices within the team space. It can also allow you as a coach to hear more about your athletes’ experiences of the season so far. Success can still be achieved, even if you decide on taking a different route.
Take Home Message
- Goals are objective targets that are useful for guiding actions toward success.
- There are many different types of goals that you can set with your groups: process, performance, outcome.
- Setting goals is only part of the journey. Goals can be intentionally utilized to design practices or team activities to actively work towards achieving the specified goals.
- Make goal setting a collaborative process to foster involvement, engagement, and commitment towards achieving desired objectives.
- When setting goals, consider the athletes’ current skills, the specific objectives desired, the timing for achieving the goal, and the type of goal most relevant to the athlete and situation.
- Set goals that encourage achieving positive outcomes rather than avoiding negative ones, as they help keep athletes persistent in the face of obstacles.
- Having goal check-ins is essential for making sure the steps taken are actively working toward accomplishing the goals.
About the Authors
Corinne Hobbs is a third year doctoral student in the Department of Kinesiology and works closely with the Institute for the Study of Youth Sports. She is a graduate assistant for the Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA).
Chelsi Ricketts earned her Ph.D. in Kinesiology from Michigan State University in Spring 2024. She is currently a post-doc at the University of Toronto Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education’s Mental Health and Physical Activity Research Centre (MPARC).
Note: This material was produced as part of a collaboration with Coaches’ Tool Chest (CTC), an organization that conducts training for sport coaches.
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