Setting Goals
Setting goals are an important part of structuring practice and improving the quality of your training for the new year.
It is common for athletes I work with to have clear goals about what success they want to achieve in their sport. However, when it comes to training and practice sessions, many athletes do not have well defined goals.
As you know, training for any sport is critical to success in competition. The best athletes in the world are those that train smart.
By training smart, I mean having well-structured goals for each practice session that you can get the most out of each session.
So how do you set better practice goals to develop focus? One option is to make your goals specific to what you will face in competition.
There is no use training parts of your game that are irrelevant to performance. For example, focusing on what the other competitors are doing in their training is not relevant to your practice.
Instead, set goals that help you focus on the processes needed for successful execution. I call these types of goals, mini goals or process goals.
Process goals help an athlete dial in their focus on the relevant tasks needed for success in competition. Therefore, in training, align your mindset to focus on the process goals.
Different process goals can be set for different aspects of your sport. For example, swimmers should have process goals for the start, turns, beginning, middle and end of a race. One process goal could be to improve reaction time for your starts.
Focusing on your process goals should be a priority for you during a training session.
Setting process goals during practice will also help you improve focus during your practice and ultimately in competition so you can perform your best.
You also want to set goals to improve your mental game. We know for certain that if your mind is getting in the way of your performance, it doesn’t matter how much you train the physical aspects of your game.
One of the biggest mental blocks for athletes is confidence. I often hear athletes saying they lose confidence in big competitions, after mistakes, or after performing poorly. Learning how to improve confidence is imperative to success in sports.
Check out The Confident Athlete, a 14-Day Plan for Superior Confidence, and begin improving today!
Related Sports Psychology Articles
- Strategies to Set and Achieve Goals
- Expectations vs. Goals for Athletes
- Steps to Achieving Your Athletic Goals and Success
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