BLOG 2

Training Week 1-24^th March 2014

Hi it’s Natalie, having assessed you on the first assessment last week I have identified that a good strategy that could be put in to place to improve your performance and overall confidence is goal setting and motivational exercises. I feel that by doing this it could improve your overall performance during netball and physical activity by increasing your motivation and confidence when you play.

What is goal setting? It is what you as an individual is aiming to achieve and what you wish the outcome of your actions to lead to. Goal setting is extremely effective and can help you accordingly to how well you follow it and by doing so it helps your aim come closer towards you. It works because it gives you the steps you need in order to get closer to your outcome but they will only work effectively depending on your personal effort and energy which you put into the process. Goal setting is an easy method which can be used to help improve the overall performance and focus of an athlete. I feel like goal setting would be a great method for you to use. You are able to set goals which you aim to achieve before a set time period. Depending on the sport being played there are different goals which are able to be set. For example a footballer may have a goal of how many tackles they may successfully perform. Seeing as though the sport you play is netball yours will differ in some way to a badminton player or a golfer.

There are many different types of goals which can be set. The three types are outcome, performance and process. Firstly I will explain to you what outcome goals are.

Outcome goals- these are goals set to do with performing better or winning something. Outcome goals made by the athlete are what they wish for the desired end result to be e.g. being selected to play netball for England. These types of goals can be extremely motivating if it’s what the athlete really wants, they may also be long term goals. Although the athlete desires the goal it is not is not up to the individual on how it goes, because it will also be based on how others perform. The athlete is quite limited without performance goals as well.

Performance goals- performance goals are set to make a specific standard of play. These goals are about the athlete’s personal standard e.g. a runner may wish to complete their course in a certain time. This meaning that it is completely up to the individual and doesn't depend on others performance. Performance goals can be used to monitor the athlete’s personal achievements and see if they are improving and also get them closer to their desired outcome goal. These goals can make the athlete feel satisfied with their performance even if the goal is not achieved.

Process goals- these goals are when the athlete has complete control. Process goals are small achievements which are put into place in order to have a larger outcome. They are the route which leads to the ultimate goal. An example of a process goal related to your sport would be to shoot 50 goals every day to practice, to eat healthier, train twice a week.

Goals can be broken down into smaller steps which we call targets. We need to make sure that these targets are what we call ‘SMART.’

Specific- what do you want to achieve? You need to make sure that the targets are specific to the ultimate goal, such as ‘I want to play for England.’ In this case you would make the targets to be things such as train 4 times a week, shoot 100 goals a day.

Measurable-the targets need to be measurable so then you know whether you have reached them, such as having feedback given to you, counting the amount of interceptions or goals which are successful.

Achievable- you have to make the goals and targets achievable. For example you can’t aim for things you know you are incapable of doing over a certain time period.

Realistic- the goals which you are aiming for must be realistic, for example you must think whether the goal is worthwhile, is it the right time for the goal, are you the right person and does it match your efforts.

Timing- this is put in place to stop goals being over taken by daily activities. Without a time frame there is no sense of urgency which doesn't make the goal motivating.

 

Goal setting can be very beneficial for your performance X, over the next week I would like you to create goals which you feel you would like to achieve. Remember to use the smart method or else the goals will be less attainable and they will decrease your performance giving you a negative mind frame. During training you should complete activities which relate towards your chosen goal. An example of this would be to think of a performance goal such as ‘how many balls can you feed into the circle’ or ‘how many interceptions can you complete during the full match.’ I suggest X that you think of an outcome goal which you can relate your performance goals too as well, this will make it easier. Make sure you concentrate on the goal at hand and let me know how you get on with the goal setting method next week.

I have just been on the phone with my athlete and I am very happy with what she told me. X explained how she wrote a list of performance goals which she wished to complete and also some outcome goals which came along with them. She said that during training she had these performance goals in her mind and focused her training activities and exercises on these goals. This made it better for her during competitive play as she was able to put these goals into real perspective and actually attempt to reach them, using the SMART method which I explained to her. She told me how she would maybe use this method again and how next time she would use more goals. Depending on which level her netball is at, the larger her outcome goals would be as well. I am pleased for X and how she was motivated to try the goal setting method, she told me how the method increased her motivation as she knew she had to complete a certain amount of interceptions to reach her performance goal.