Motiv Girl
10-10-2010, 10:43 PM
How do you help sports kids set goals that don't create high
expectations? Wait a minute, you may ask. The whole process of
setting goals creates expectations!
Read on to understand the critical difference between setting
goals and creating high expectations in youth sports.
This is a big challenge for parents, coaches and young athletes.
Too often, kids confuse goals with expectations. They then set
high expectations for themselves and get frustrated when they
don't achieve them.
This is a mental game no-no. You don't want your athletes to do
this. It hurts their confidence and undermines their performance.
Yes, you do want kids to establish goals. But they need to
understand that they can modify their goals. They should be
flexible. Kids need to view goal-setting as a process.
We recently talked to J. Parker Adair about this topic. He's a
coach and former semi-pro athlete who started a high school
lacrosse program and has run programs for athletes who range from
pre-schoolers to high schoolers.
Goals give kids a purpose, he says. They motivate them to try
hard and be passionate about their sport.
To help kids avoid working toward goals in ways that create
unhealthy expectations, Adair focuses on looking at goals as a
step-by-step process. Focusing on mini-goals is key.
"I tell them to focus on little things—maybe like changing their
stance or position. Fix that one thing, For example, let's keep
our eyes out when going to pass. Don't look at the ground. Now,
when you have that down, start looking at one player. If he's
open, then pass to him. It's really a building block technique."
We agree that helping kids establish mini goals is important. You
want them to concentrate on goals that will help them stay
grounded in the present. These are immediate, day-to-day goals.
You don't want them thinking about the score or the win all the
time.
Some examples: Play one shot at a time. Stay in the process.
Focus on one point at a time. While you're setting these goals,
don't forget to include mental game goals. For example, ask kids
to let go of mistakes quickly and focus on the next play.
This kind of goal-setting yields many benefits. Such goals help
kids stay grounded in the moment. When they're playing in the
moment and not worrying about the score or the win, they're more
likely to take the essential risks needed to help them grow as
athletes.
Patrick Cohn, Ph.D and Lisa Cohn
expectations? Wait a minute, you may ask. The whole process of
setting goals creates expectations!
Read on to understand the critical difference between setting
goals and creating high expectations in youth sports.
This is a big challenge for parents, coaches and young athletes.
Too often, kids confuse goals with expectations. They then set
high expectations for themselves and get frustrated when they
don't achieve them.
This is a mental game no-no. You don't want your athletes to do
this. It hurts their confidence and undermines their performance.
Yes, you do want kids to establish goals. But they need to
understand that they can modify their goals. They should be
flexible. Kids need to view goal-setting as a process.
We recently talked to J. Parker Adair about this topic. He's a
coach and former semi-pro athlete who started a high school
lacrosse program and has run programs for athletes who range from
pre-schoolers to high schoolers.
Goals give kids a purpose, he says. They motivate them to try
hard and be passionate about their sport.
To help kids avoid working toward goals in ways that create
unhealthy expectations, Adair focuses on looking at goals as a
step-by-step process. Focusing on mini-goals is key.
"I tell them to focus on little things—maybe like changing their
stance or position. Fix that one thing, For example, let's keep
our eyes out when going to pass. Don't look at the ground. Now,
when you have that down, start looking at one player. If he's
open, then pass to him. It's really a building block technique."
We agree that helping kids establish mini goals is important. You
want them to concentrate on goals that will help them stay
grounded in the present. These are immediate, day-to-day goals.
You don't want them thinking about the score or the win all the
time.
Some examples: Play one shot at a time. Stay in the process.
Focus on one point at a time. While you're setting these goals,
don't forget to include mental game goals. For example, ask kids
to let go of mistakes quickly and focus on the next play.
This kind of goal-setting yields many benefits. Such goals help
kids stay grounded in the moment. When they're playing in the
moment and not worrying about the score or the win, they're more
likely to take the essential risks needed to help them grow as
athletes.
Patrick Cohn, Ph.D and Lisa Cohn