Goal Setting

[altius]

Readers may find the following extract on the topic of "Goal setting" from Beginner to Bubka of value. With apologies to those who have already read it of course!

Because of the length of the original piece in the Sports Psyche chapter I will post it in two tranches.

"When asked, the majority of athletes will define their “goalsâ€Â

[baggettpv]

Altius,
Many different facets to this goal setting eh. I find that while setting performance goals (training) of a track team there are many events that share the same goals...and can be trained together. Too many times I have heard coaches say Long jumpers go with coach ____, High jumpers with ____, sprinters with _____, hurdlers with ________. Then all of a sudden "We need more coaches!! The problem with Pole Vault Coaches are that we aren't the Head Coach making all of these decisions for the team...

Rick Baggett
WSTC LLC

[AVC Coach]

I agree with altius and baggett. But Rick, head coaching sure takes away from your pole vault time.

[rainbowgirl28]

I agree with altius and baggett. But Rick, head coaching sure takes away from your pole vault time.

Agreed.

I think the important thing is having a coaching staff that communicates well and has the same philosophy.

[Tim McMichael]

The WORST thing I ever did for my vaulters was to become a head coach. Now that I can focus on the vault alone, it is like breathing fresh air again after a long time in the stifling atmosphere of too much to do. One of the things I love about this board is that it is helping me refocus after having my attention diffused for so long. It is impossible to be specific as a head coach in track and field. There are just too many events and no possible way to adequately deal with them all. A piece of advice: If you are a high school athlete, look very hard for a college or university with a vault coach; not a jumps coach or a field event coach, but a full time vault coach. It is very likely that you will be unhappy with any other situation.

[zipsDIGSpv]

This is a paper I wrote on goal setting in the pole vault for my Applied Sport Psych class...pretty basic stuff but might be helpful.

"Goal Setting in the Pole Vault
In the pole vault there are many approaches that coaches and athletes will take when setting their goals and many reasons why they set their goals the way that they do. It is understood that goal setting will look different with different age levels and different experience levels, but there are a couple of keys to affective goal setting that have to be considered with any pole vaulter. This paper will attempt to explain how to set goals to motivate pole vaulters of all ages and ability levels.
First of all, why do we set goals? What purpose do they serve? Goal setting in general keeps you committed and keeps you focused on a specific purpose. Goals affect ones psychological state and can have a great impact on confidence and can reduce anxiety. If a pole vaulter knows his/her goals and focuses on those in everything that they do, it gives them a driving force to strive for. If they are focused on their goals then every practice that they go to, every drill that they do, and every weight that they lift is a way to conquer the goals that they have set. A vaulter will be more motivated to do what it takes when they have a series of goals to shoot for and they are focused on.
So what do these goals look like and how should they be set? First of all, goals must be specific and measurable. “I am going to jump higher this yearâ€Â

[altius]

Cant pronounce your name or spell your tag - but a good effort. Now i will put up the second half of my stuff on Goal setting because there will be at least one person interested.

[zipsDIGSpv]

sounds good I'm interested in reading it

[altius]

As promised the second tranche of the section on 'goal setting' from BTB.
Hope you find it interesting zipsDIGSpv.

"The complexity of the pole vault, the wide range of training modes needed and the special demands of competing in this event means that vaulters can benefit enormously from a goal setting approach. Each of these elements can be broken down into components which are then turned into ‘goals’. These can include -

Goal setting for elements of technique
Some aspects of technique are objective such as run up speed, speed over the last five metres, take off differentials, grip height and pole stiffness are objective and measurable – with suitable equipment. Improving any one of those elements can have a major impact on performance so it is important to set specific goals in terms of improvement or in actual performance if the athlete hopes to improve. In fact even coaches who do not use a ‘Goal setting’ strategy will often measure performance in those areas and even compare them with established norms. However many other aspects of technique are not easily measurable so attaining a specific technical goal will be a subjective assessment by the coach. However even this process can be made more objective by using ‘before’ and ‘after’ videotapes to capture and define the improvements made.

An innovative approach to developing precise movement patterns in the pole vault would involve treating the event as if it were a gymnastic event and assigning a score our of ten every time an athlete performs a specific drill. The goal of course would be to achieve a perfect ten on every attempt. While we have not heard of any coach employing this approach we believe that it has merit and that it might encourage more athletes to strive for perfect execution in the way very young gymnasts do even when attempting the most difficult of movements. This method might just replace some of the machismo associated with the vault with a greater awareness of the need for the precise execution of bio mechanically derived movement patterns.

Physical parameters
The Field testing approach detailed in Chapter Twenty Four can be employed to ensure that virtually every aspect of training can be turned into a series of goals. While goal setting is primarily individually based there are established performance norms which correlate with predicted performance in the actual vault.

Competition skills
Setting non performance goals allows the athlete to ‘win’ in every competition. If they
• Get on to a bigger pole.
• Cope with a head wind.
• Compete well in rain or even snow – in places like Nampa in Idaho!
• Use a higher grip.
• Deal with pressure.
• Take off on every attempt – in warm up and/or in the competition.
• Make third attempt clearances.

With young or inexperienced athletes, the goal may simply be to improve their competition skills by following the routines detailed in Chapter Twenty . For example it is not uncommon for novices who lack confidence to ‘disappear’ during a competition. Perhaps because they are intimidated by the ‘professionals’ – ‘professionals’ who may have been vaulting for all of six months! As a result these young athletes often forget everything the coach is trying to teach them. Instead of following the routines which will give them their best chance of a good performance many young athletes sit down and only emerge when they are called to jump – almost praying for the ordeal to end! Inevitably they fulfil their own expectations.

To prevent this the coach must recognise, reinforce and reward good ‘competition skills’ no matter what the quality of the actual performance in the competition. So every aspect of the routine for preparing to compete becomes a ‘goal’ to be achieved. In this way post competition analysis can be focussed on the way the athlete improved their competition skills and their technique instead of revolving around the result.

To make the “Goal settingâ€Â

[baggettpv]

Another one finely said.
Today my athletes that thought they had "It" participated in a training activity that saw one fatiged so badly she couldn't stand. Another had to go outside to releive her inner core, another slowed so badly he had to walk while another was successful in her last pass on the last activity. But they all came away with the goal accomplished and felt as big a a Mountain. They finished and look forward to next weeks attempt at finishing in less than 75 minutes. They proved to themselves that indeed they did have "It"!
Goals are funny things. Many different facets.

Rick Baggett
WSTC LLC

[zipsDIGSpv]

So our purpose here is to suggest that goal setting should go far beyond the final target. Our beliefs have been driven by our long experience as teachers where our role was to encourage every child to develop whatever talent they had to the maximum regardless of how they compared to others in the group

I could not agree more. My undergrad was in teaching and I have applied a lot of ideals from my teaching background to coaching, but not showing favoritism is a very difficult thing to do and not to do. As coaches we are going to have very talented kids and we are going to have "hard workers" that just don't have the talent. How do we treat these kids the same? I look back at my own vault career and I see how I was treated differently because I was not an all american and the truth of it is that I don't want my vaulters to ever feel like the more talented kids are getting more attention, but the more experience I get coaching the more I realize how hard this is. I am trying to keep the perspective that if my athletes are putting in the work and truly wanting to get better I'm going to give them every opportunity to improve. This has to be in every area from one on one sessions, technical advice, personalized goal setting, etc. We as coaches owe it to our athletes that love the event and pour their hearts into it the opportunity to be the best they can be with the God given gifts they have been given.

[souleman]

When we try to make or set goals for ourselves or our athletes, I think we should always be S-M-A-R-T about it. This is an acronym for a process that I learned about in some of my Ford Motor Company training. What the acronym spells out is;

S- Specific
M- Measurable
A- Achievable
R- Relevant
T- Timely


In other words, we are to pick out a specific goal that can be measured (as in how things are going as we progress towards that specific goal). The goal has to be achievable (meaning, I'm not going to have making 5.00 meters as my goal). Relevancy is as it pertains to the specific vaulter. What does that vaulter need to accomplish either in results, technique or any other improvement that would be desirable for him or her. Finally timeliness is key because that specifies when the goal is to be reached.

Looking at it this way it takes a lot of the brain damage out of making and setting goals.