Goal Setting Principles, Part II

By John Trehearn LTA National Coach (East Area)

Planning the goal setting

Short Term Goals (what can be achieved quickly) should;

· Be achievable within a maximum of three months (i.e. one school term or training block of 10/12 weeks).
· Be relatively easy to master within the time frame.
· Demand much of the player’s training time (if they are new short term goals)
· Demand less time if the goal was previously a 6-12 month goal.
· Need intensive work (but be careful not to allow the player to get bored)
· Be at the forefront of the training and practice.
· Always be in the player’s mind (do they know their short term goals?)
· Not overload the player in terms of physical demands on their bodies (too much repetition/intensity at one time).
· Be prioritized in order of significance.
· Not conflict with other goals.

Medium Term Goals (the stepping stones to longer term progress) should;

· Take between 3-6 months to achieve.
· Require a longer period of training to develop the necessary skills.
· Still need regular training every week but perhaps in shorter periods of time.
· Not require quite as much intensity as the short term goals. One cannot expect to see instant improvement from a player.
· Be built up gradually - look out for indications of improvement.
· Be reinforced in the players mind from time to time. Younger players might struggle to remember them – keep prompting them in the right direction.
· Should not conflict with other goals

Long Term Goals (the longer term vision);

· Are likely to take between 6-12 months to achieve
· Need vision from the coach – how does the player need to develop?
· Are often the most important and difficult goals to set correctly.
· May not be immediate/obvious requirements but are important for the future.
· Need much more gradual development (body size, growth/strength development)
· Are often much more difficult and awkward skills for the player to develop.
· Might be less enjoyable for the player as they may not yet see the relevance and might therefore lack intrinsic motivation to work on them
· Need careful management by the coach – re-assure the player that progress is being made little by little.
· May need to be combined with other long term goals from another performance factor i.e. link physical/technical development or tactical/mental. E.g. full knee bend on serve will depend on developing stronger legs.
· Need just as much monitoring as short/medium term goals.
· Need to be re-enforced from time to time – younger players in particular will struggle to store information long term.
· Should not conflict with other goals.

When the goals are set ensure the player, coach and parents sign the bottom of the document. It then becomes a binding contract - people are committed!

How to set the goals

In order for the player to take ownership of their goals they must be S.M.A.R.T goals as follows:

S – Specific

Be very clear about what is to be achieved – don’t use tennis jargon. Write the goals with the player to ensure they understand the vocabulary. Try to set a specific goal i.e. ‘Ability to perform 50 shot rally from back of court with both forehand and backhand hitting beyond service line’ rather than ‘Be more consistent with groundstrokes’. Think about how you will know whether something has improved (or not) at the end of the time period. If the goal is too vague you won’t know if it has improved.

M – Measurable

How are you going to measure development? If the goal was specific it should be relatively easy to tell. If it was a technical goal you might need to capture video evidence ‘before and after’. Always think how you will test whether the goal has been achieved rather than it being a subjective assessment. Thinking something ‘looks’ better is not good enough.

A – Agreed

Make sure both the player and coach agree the goal before committing to print. It’s vital that the player is convinced about the goal. Explaining the reasons behind the goal is important to getting the player ‘on-board’. The player must believe in it. With younger players involving the parents is also important. They will be able to back up the goal setting process and are often able to help make them achievable. For example, if the goal is to play between 25-30 matches over a 6 month period to build up tactical experience then it cannot happen without the parent’s willingness to implement it. Parents can also be a coach’s extra pair of ‘eyes and ears’. They will be able to feed back information on how a player is coping. Remember they know the player better than you do!

R – Realistic

Is the goal realistic? Is the player capable of achieving the overall goal within the time frame? If not, could it be broken down into smaller goals? Be careful not to overload the player with too difficult a task at one time. Be prepared to break things down into ‘component parts’ which the player can grasp more easily. Then think about putting it all together on the next cycle when you are confident the player has mastered the individual elements.

T – Time Bound

Think carefully about how long a player may take to achieve the goal. Always give a little longer if you are in doubt. Better for the player to feel they have achieved the goal earlier than expected rather than after the timeframe set. By putting a time frame onto a goal the player has to take more responsibility for it. This is good! Remember it is not the coach’s goal – it belongs to the player. Players might need the occasional prompt. For example; have they put in the individual service practice as part of their weekly programme? Have they logged it in their file? Is the player doing their injury prevention training or pre-match warm up properly etc?

Once players realize the significance of the time frame they will be more willing to act. They will not want to ‘miss’ the deadline and so this can act as a motivational tool to encourage them to focus on what they need to do. Time waits for no-one and strong players are often better because they improve at a faster rate.

When to set and re-evaluate goals

It doesn’t really matter when the goal setting process starts but remember the fact that the tennis tournament calendar runs in line with the academic school year. The year begins in September and finishes at the end of August. Goals ideally should be set and reviewed four times a year;

· September (Sept-Dec)
· January (Jan-March)
· April (April-June)
· July (July-Aug)

July and August for most players involves an extended tournament period of 6-8 weeks and therefore this period requires specific planning and preparation.

Remember that new 3, 6 or 12 month goals can be added at any of these times. It is difficult to know for sure how quickly a player will develop. The goal setting document will, however, be ‘on-going’ and will need amending and adjusting as time progresses. Outcome as well as process goals will change as the player develops. Don’t throw the old goal setting sheets away. They might occasionally be needed to check an old goal.

At the top of the Goal Setting Sheet it is a good idea to list the player’s details – age, D.O.B, rating, ranking etc and other key elements such as their perceived strengths (natural or developed) and their game style (if already formulated). This will help them understand their own game and it will help the coach set and plan the goals accordingly.

Remember strengths might not just be certain shots. They can come from any aspect from the four performance factors like great speed and movement, tactical awareness or will to win. Try to make the player see beyond technique. Tennis is not like ice skating, matches aren’t won on style or artistic impression!

Make sure to plan ahead for the re-evaluation dates. Don’t allow these dates to slip by. Organize a meeting date in advance. Make sure, that the key coach gets all the people involved with a particular player present, or at least gets feedback from them in advance. Think about the goals prior to the meeting. Good preparation will enhance the trust the player has in the key coach and the ability of the support team. It may take a little while at first to go through the whole goal setting sheet the first time - but remember when re-setting goals, some might only need the time frames adjusting. If the player and coaching team have done a good job it’s just a case of deleting off completed goals and coming up with some new ones.

Annual Planner – how the training and tournaments fit together.

Once the goal setting is completed, set out how to structure and implement the training by using the Annual Planner. This document sets out in basic form how you intend to fit the jig-saw together around training and competitive periods. It will include the training blocks and competitive phases geared around the tournaments a player is intending to enter.

Key components such as fitness testing dates, muscular skeletal screening, rest weeks, training camps, holidays etc can all be planned and seen at a glance. It can show not only what training phase the player is in but the degree of loading or intensity within that week. Without this document it is impossible to pull it all together in a cohesive and structured fashion. Remember it will not be possible for a player to train or compete ‘flat out’ all year. As a coach one has to understand and appreciate what the player can manage. When could they be doing more? When should the training taper off to allow the player to re-fresh and benefit from the training and not enter competition weary?

Finally, once both documents are completed, ensure everyone in the support team – coaches, trainers and parents (as well as the player) has a copy. Remember apart from the player taking control of their own destiny by knowing themselves what they are doing, the idea is to have everyone involved ‘singing from the same song sheet’. With the advent of email this is not such an onerous task these days. Just circulate amended and updated documents as things change.

Good luck and happy planning!

John Trehearn
LTA National Coach (East Area)

We would like to thank John for his input, good goal setting will help maintain motivation and will help you or your players maximise their full potential.