The importance of setting goals in Sports Psychology
To establish objectives it is a strategy that helps to control important psychological aspects that affect the performance of an athlete such as attentional control, self-confidence or motivation. Setting realistic but ambitious goals is one of the basic methodological keys in Sports Psychology.
For this, and taking into account the season, training or matches, the coach must decide which are the objectives that the athletes will have to reach , individually and collectively. If the objectives are realistic, specific, measurable, achievable and achieved with a specific time, they will provide many benefits for athletes and the team.
Marking clear objectives
The objectives indicate the direction to follow in the work of the coach and the athletes . When clear goals are not set or the goal is too high, both motivation and self-confidence are affected. Therefore, a good approach to objectives helps to strengthen many psychological aspects and marks the direction towards which efforts should be directed.
Also, set goals too allows to evaluate sport progress and allows changes to be made when the marked expectations are not met.
Types of objectives: objectives of result and objectives of realization
In order to establish the objectives of the season or matches, the coach (or, better yet, the sports psychologist) must differentiate between achievement objectives Y outcome objectives .
Outcome objectives
The outcome objectives refer to the collective and individual results that are intended to be achieved, such as winning the league, getting more points, etc.
Objectives of realization
On the other hand, the objectives of realization refer to the individual and collective behaviors that athletes should perform to achieve the desired results. For example, improve the counterattack, dominate the passes at one touch or shoot more times from different positions.
The results objectives are more useful to increase the interest of the athletes, but the performance objectives are more effective so that athletes can perceive that they control the situation they face. Both types of objectives help define the direction the coach and the athletes should follow.
Benefits of achievement objectives
The objectives of realization have certain benefits. Below are the most important ones:
- They allow athletes to establish beneficial contingencies between their own behavior and the results.
- They accentuate and reinforce the behavior of athletes more than the consequences of what they do, which do not depend so much on them.
- They allow a more realistic assessment of the viability of the objectives.
- They favor the attention of athletes in their own behavior, adopting a more productive and rewarding style of operation.
- They allow the evaluation of performance in a simple and effective way.
- They encourage self-confidence, alertness and motivation of athletes.
Characteristics of effective objectives
For the objectives to be effective it is necessary that they meet certain requirements , because they could be harmful if they do not adapt to certain criteria.
For example, if the coach sets objectives too ambitious and unattainable will cause the self-confidence of athletes is affected in a negative way. To avoid this, below are shown a series of characteristics that present effective objectives :
- You must define final and intermediate objectives and mark the deadline to get them
- The objectives must be specific and well defined
- The objectives must be attractive, but also realistic
- The objectives must be challenging, but at the same time demand a proportionate cost
- In team sports, collective and individual goals must be established
