Podium Sports Journal’s Podcast of the Week – An interview with Drs. Noah Gentner and Vanessa Shannon

by Dr. Stephen Walker, CC-AASP

This podcast was the first of a two part podcast with Drs. Noah Gentner and Vanessa Shannon on qualitative research they conducted with Olympic Gold medalists from the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece.  The interview was given at the Association for Applied Sport Psychology annual conference in Louisville, Kentucky October 2007.

This study evolved over a number of years in a series of interviews focused on identifying and describing the mental techniques and preparation strategies used by world champions.  The key exploration focused on how these premier athletes differed from those less successful athletes in their preparation and mental conditioning.  A total of nine male and female athletes from six different sports comprised the sample for this qualitative research effort.

Some of the techniques employed included self-talk, attention cues, process focused physical moves, smart “techniques”, short-term and long-term goals.  Stay tuned tomorrow for part 2 of this interview.

Dr. Noah Gentner is a sport psychologist consultant and Assistant Professor of Sport Sciences from Georgia Southern University.  Dr. Vanessa Shannon is a coaching education specialist and Assistant Professor at West Virginia University.  Both were students of Dr. Craig Wrisberg  and Leslie Fisher Gould at the University of Tennessee.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click Here to Listen to the Podcast: aasp-oct07-minding-for-gold-gentner-shannon3

by Stephen Walker, PhD, CC-AASP

Podium’s Podcast of the Week: An Interview with Jesse Michel – West Virginia University

Coaches have varying expectations of their team captains.  Some will follow the adage of  ‘expect nothing be prepared for everything’ while others will want their team captain to serve as an assistant coach.  Leadership is a variable that can distinguish a great sports captain.  But what does that look like on a collegiate team?

Jesse Michel, Dr. Greg Shelley from Ithaca College and Dr. Noah Gentner from Georgia Southern University collaborated on a qualitative research study of the behaviors most recognized as defining a great team captain.  At any level this interview will prove illuminating, and offer some guidelines useful to both coaches and team captains alike.

Jesse Michel – Behaviors of Successful NCAA Sport Captains

Click here to view the embedded video.

by Stephen Walker, PhD, CC-AASP

Podium’s Podcast of the Week – Reflections on Applied Consulting work with Teams

While working on their Master’s thesis at California State University – Fullerton, Ian Connole and Kristen Frevert  had the opportunity to consult with high school baseball teams on both ends of the spectrum in terms of success.  Those that were perennial power-houses with multiple championships under their belt – and – teams that had failed to win a game in their division over an entire season.

Reflecting on their experiences Connole and Frevert came up with a number of insightful and helpful guidelines for consultants, coaches and trainers who might find themselves working amongst teams with this sort of disparate success.

Ironically, the mental skill most required to keep successful teams from losing their focus and becoming vulnerable – was the same skill incorporated to give a proper focus to those teams stuck in a slump.  “The Power of Now” holds new meaning to them after this experience and this Podcast shares how.

Connole is now working on his PhD at West Virginia University while Kristen Frevert is pursuing a PsyD from the University of Denver, both programs lead the field in developing quality sport psychology consultants.  Thanks to them for this illuminating interview.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Ian Connole & Kristen Frevert-Sports Psychology of working with Successful vs Unsuccessful Teams

Podium’s Podcast of the Week – An interview with New Zealand’s Ken Hodge

by Stephen E. Walker, PhD, CC-AASP

New developments in the use of achronyms to help athlete’s remember key focusing routines during competition have gained acceptance in recent years.  Dr. Sarah Castillo from West Points’ Center for Performance Enhancement is known for W.I.N. – a drill she’s done with Army’s basketball team calling for the immediate shift in focus to “whats important now.”  She uses the drill several times during the season to teach each player “how” to make a quick mental shift through transitions on the court.  The drill calls for the team to announce on cue – their immediate point of focus. Every time there is a change in possession, a score, a mistake, or a turnover – her whistle results in the verbal announcement of each shift in focus….which often sounds like the rapid descriptions offered up by a play-by-play announcer….only the play-by-play is coming from each player on the court as they yell their personal “task at hand” in real time.  WIN has a place amongst the mental skills taught in the Army.  So does CARS – amongst athletes and teams that work with Dr. Ken Hodge, one of New Zealand’s top sport psychologists.

Hodge has presented research in a multitude of seminars internationally and has pioneered his technique of “Critical Action Response Strategies” while working with Rugby teams especially.  As a key resource to New Zealand’s Olympic teams, Hodge has found a special niche with CARS.  Is it any wonder much of his work has recently drawn him into the wildly popular emergence of professional motor sports.  Hodge specializes in training pit crews using the CARS technique and he is thoroughly at home in either environment.

Don’t be misguided by the acronym’s simplicity.  As Hodge explains, the process is systematically and sequentially taught in series with multiple repetitions.  The drills are practiced frequently, a requirement if the teams are to master the skill.  Enjoy listening to our interview with Ken Hodge as he teaches us about CARS and its application amongst highly functioning teams.  As you can tell he’s having a great time working in either sport. Hodge is also a faculty member in sports sciences at the University of Otago and well known consultant amongst New Zealand’s Olympians.  I hope you enjoy listening and learning from him as much as I did.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to listen to the podcast:  Ken Hodge – Critical Action Response Strategies CARS

Podium’s Podcast of the Week Features an Interview with elite cyclist Will Frischkorn:

by Dr. Stephen Walker, CC-AASP

Will Frischkorn is one of those unassuming types that hang out in Boulder – a lot like your friend and neighbor his friendly yet calm exterior belies an aggressive cyclist who’s development has landed him on perhaps the most progressive and forward thinking cycling team on Planet Earth.  Garmin-Slipstream is out to put an end to discussions of cheating and doping by employing a very aggressive and proactive regimen of testing likely to rival something USADA might use to keep athletes clean, healthy and yet performing to their optimum.

Will is coached by Jonathan Vaughters, Slipstream’s brainchild and director, and credits the man for teaching him how to train with balance, a positive attitude, patience and a good deal of fun.  Last year Will participated in his inaugural Tour de France.  He learned first hand how grueling the race can be and how one bad day has the potential to hurt for a long time.  Thanks to a strong team, a great director and a supportive cast – Will is here to stay and make the most of his opportunity on the Garmin-Slipstream team.  Will he make the team again?

Enjoy Podium’s interview with Will Frischkorn as he and Team Garmin-Slipstream prepare for the Tour de France 2009.  Shortly after this post was originally written – Team Garmin-Slipstream announced its top nine riders for this year’s Tour de France.  Unfortunately, Will missed the cut and will have to watch with the support staff along with Tom Danielson, another Tour de France veteran who is missing out on this year’s race.  Both riders boast strong credentials, but their being left off Vaughter’s starting squad says more about Slipstream’s incredibly talented crew than either racer’s poor performance.  Either would serve an integral role with many of the other teams racing the Tour.

So take a listen to our interview with Will Frischkorn after being named to the Garmin-Slipstream team.  He was optimistic and excited about the team’s prospects.

Click here to view the embedded video.

podium-sports-journal-interview-with-will-frischkorn-tour-de-france-cyclist-slipstream

I’m confident he didn’t anticipate the incredible development of  David Martin,  the Irish Champ and nephew of  legend Stephen Roche.  Also, missing the cut is Canadian Champion Svein Tuft.  Vaughter’s team is deep too with British sprinter David Millar and Tour journeymen David Zabriskie, Christian Vande Velde and Bradley Wiggins.  While your at it – take a listen to Podium’s interview with Tom Danielson after his first Tour de France with Team Discovery:

Click here to view the embedded video.

http://www.podiumsportsjournal.com/tom-danialson-interview/

The Research on Focusing Attention

Most research has examined the attentional focus of runners by categorizing their thoughts as either associative or dissociative. This model proposed by Morgan and Pollock (1977) describes associative thoughts as those that tune into your bodily sensations such as breathing, heart rate, tempo, turnover, shaking out muscle tightness, focused relaxation of certain muscle groups or a part of your body and, eventually muscle fatigue and other not-so-desirable training experiences. Dissociative thoughts are those focused on just about anything but your bodily sensations. It’s a pretty basic strategy that purposely attempts to distract one from thinking about bodily sensations.

In 1998 Masters and Ogles published a review of the research on associative and dissociative cognitive strategies, reviewing a total of 35 studies. With regard to outcomes associated with attentional focus strategies, Masters and Ogles offered the following conclusions:

a) association is generally related to faster running performances,
b) runners use association more in races and dissociation more during training,
c) dissociation is related to lower rates of perceived exertion.

About ten years ago Stevinson and Biddle (1998) proposed and tested what they referred to as a more comprehensive system for classifying runners’ thoughts, arguing that a simple dichotomy is not sophisticated enough to capture the full range of runners’ thoughts. They proposed two dimensions: task relevance (relevant or not relevant to task performance) and, direction of attention (internal or external).

The Plot Thickens with a New Direction in Research on Running

In our research lab at Western Kentucky, we have been studying attentional focus in runners in recent years. In one of our studies (Wininger & Gieske, 2006) we proposed subdividing task-relevant inward monitoring into three separate categories: bodily sensations, task-relevant thoughts, and self-talk. In addition, we developed an instrument that would better capture what runners actually think about, and when they do it. It is called the Measure of Attentional Focus and it consists of six categories of thoughts:

1) Bodily sensations: attending to bodily sensations such as breathing or muscles/body parts.
2) Task relevant thoughts: attending to thoughts about strategy, technique, or goals related to time, and pace.
3) Self-talk: self-statements such as “I can do it” or “Keep going” or “Push it”.
4) Task relevant external cues: time splits, distance markers, terrain, or other runners.
5) Task irrelevant thoughts: thinking about things unrelated to exercise such as planning, daydreaming, or past events/memories.
6) External distraction: attending to music, TV program, other people, or scenery.

We recently conducted a study with participants in several 5k road races. We wanted to examine how the addition of the new categories (2 & 3 from above) might relate with athletic performance. Previous research has suggested that focusing on bodily sensations was most closely associated with better performance. However, we discovered that the amount of time a runner spent focusing on task-relevant thoughts was most highly related to better performance.

In another study with collegiate swimmers (Wininger & Graves, 2007) we found that how one perceives thoughts about their bodily sensations may also affect how those thoughts affect performance. Top finishers judged thoughts about bodily sensations as neutral. Swimmers finishing in 5-7th place judged bodily sensation thoughts as negative. A veteran college cross country coach suggested to us that better runners just check in with their bodily sensations like an instrument panel and use this information to decide how to proceed in terms of altering their pace.

Also, it appears that certain thought patterns characterize different portions of a race. In our study on athletes competing in 5K road races we found that task relevant thoughts were highest during the first and last third of the race. Task-irrelevant thoughts seemed to peak during the middle third of the race. This would suggest that the most difficult portion of the race in terms of maintaining focus was the middle third. Runners would do well to develop strategies or plans for maintaining their focus during this phase of a race.

So What Should You Think About While Running?

Based on our research thus far, we would suggest that if you want to improve your performance try to focus primarily on task-relevant thoughts, check in on bodily sensations periodically and use this information to alter your pace accordingly, use self-talk to get through tough stretches, and develop a plan for maintaining focus during the middle third of a run.

For Shorter Events 5K and shorter – I would also suggest that each runner attempt to systematically identify the optimal combination with regards to allocation of attention across the six categories for specific types of running, e.g., long slow runs, tempo runs, and racing. Note, during races attention to task-irrelevant thoughts and external distracters should be keep to a minimum, especially races of shorter distances such as 5K’s and shorter.

For Longer Training runs – However, it is important to note that task-irrelevant thoughts and external distracters are desirable when completing long training runs as they help to pass the time and may also lower perceived exertion.

About the Author:

Steve Wininger received his Ph.D. in sport psychology from Florida State University in 1998. He has provided sport psychology consultation for numerous collegiate teams: swimming & diving, basketball, volleyball, tennis, soccer, and track & field. His current research focus is on how to increase performance via the manipulation of attentional focus, especially for non-scoring aerobic activities such as running, swimming, and cycling. Steve’s athletic background includes competing at the collegiate level in both cross-country and tennis. He currently enjoys running 5K’s, swimming, competing in USTA team tennis, and hiking with his family. Steve is an associate professor of psychology at Western Kentucky University.

The following is from Wikipedia.org. This is good. Wait until you see the set of examples of violence.

Violence in sports can result in chaotic brawls, both by athletes and spectators. They may involve beer bottles, sinks from stadiums, improvised stabbing utensils, stadium seats, and whatever else may be found on hand.

In sports which are inherently violent, violence which goes beyond what is permitted by the rules sometimes occurs.

Competitive sports, such as football, basketball, and baseball may involve aggressive tactics, but actual violence is considered to fall outside the boundaries of good sportsmanship. Contact sports such as American football, ice hockey, rugby football, boxing, wrestling, and water polo involve certain levels of physical violence, but include restrictions and penalties for excessive and dangerous acts of force. Violence in sports may include threats, or physical harm and may be carried out by athletes, coaches, fans, spectators, or the parents of young athletes.

George Orwell once made the observation, “Serious sport has nothing to do with fair play. It is bound up with hatred, jealousy, boastfulness, disregard of all rules and sadistic pleasure in witnessing violence: in other words it is war minus the shooting.”[1]

Here’s the full article.

by Tami Eggleston, Ph.D. CC-AASP

The following article is by Tami Eggleston, Ph.D. of McKendree University. She’s an Association for Applied Sport Psychology Certified Consultant.

“Ability is what you’re capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it.”
-Lou Holtz

Psychologists know a few things about how to motivate people, that is basically what psychologists try and do for people is to help them get motivated to make a change. One of the basic things about motivation is that there are two main types of motivation: extrinsic and intrinsic. Extrinsic motivation means you are motivated by something outside of yourself. This would be the athlete who really ONLY plays because of the possibility of fame, fortune, or because of how other people treat him or her. Intrinsic motivation, on the other hand, comes largely from within. But which is likely to drive an athlete in both the up and down times?

This would be the athlete who primarily performs because of the internal feelings of accomplishment, satisfaction, they like a challenge, they like competition, or they just love the sport or activity. For most people for most things it is a combination of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation that motivates them. For example, I love to drag race, but if there wasn’t a monetary payout and we were just racing for a trophy, I probably wouldn’t go racing nearly as much. Most psychologists say that having both is fine, but if you want to be active in your sport for the long term you probably need a great deal of intrinsic motivation to keep going. Intrinsic motivation keeps you going during the good times and the difficult times (the losses, the interceptions, the strike outs, the not qualifying, the missed serve, etc.).

Psychologists have also found that sometimes if a person gets too many extrinsic rewards, their intrinsic motivation might actually go down. I know this seems odd for most people, we would think that the more extrinsic rewards you received the more you would start to intrinsically love it. But this is not supported by research. For example, most kids love to read, but if you start to give them grades for their reading or you start to reward them too much for reading they actually start to like reading less! Most psychologists would not support the idea of paying kids to read, to study, etc. or else they might lose the intrinsic motivation to do this. A few extrinsic rewards are fun (certificates, t-shirts, food) on occasion, but the overuse and focus on extrinsic rewards can actually hurt intrinsic motivation!

So what can you do to keep motivated and to keep intrinsic motivation high? Here are a few tips:

1.) Remember why you love your sport. When you start to lose motivation, think back to why you started your sport and the things that make you love it. Think back to those early experiences in your sport that just make you smile. When the going gets tough, remember you love this stuff!

2.) Shake it up! Sometimes you need to change up your activities to keep you motivated. Maybe attend a different event, a different location, with different competitors. A change might help you stay intrinsically motivated.

3.) Add some fun; nothing makes you more motivated than having fun. Lack of fun is a sure fire way to kill motivation! You can be a serious athlete but still have fun. Just look at the Green Bay Packers Quarterback, Brett Favre, he is an elite athlete who still truly is having fun. Maybe you can add fun by having a picnic with your friends and family after an event. Maybe you could make a little vacation out of your next event. Fun won’t make you less committed; fun will just help you stay motivated for the long term. The best athletes can turn on and off their game face and have fun.

He who does not get fun and enjoyment out of every day… needs to reorganize his life. -George M. Adams

4.) WIN! Yeah, this is the hard one, but nothing makes you more motivated than a good win! But here is the chicken/egg problem if you win, you get motivated, but you have to be motivated to win…but you get the point, try to win and get happy, get motivated, and win some more! Celebrate those hard earned wins!

5.) Don’t second guess yourself. Take time to make good decisions, and then once you make a decision don’t go around beating yourself up if it doesn’t work. Nothing will knock out your intrinsic motivation quicker than beating yourself up. Sometimes outstanding athletes are very hard on themselves. It is one thing to make a mistake, learn from it, but then you have to forgive yourself and move on to stay motivated. Take your time making good decisions, learn from bad decisions, and then move on! Too much second guessing doesn’t do anything but make you feel bad. Of course we should think about our decisions, learn from our decisions, but too much second guessing will just make you feel bad and reduce your intrinsic motivation to do things.

“Regret for the things we did can be tempered by time; it is regret for the things we did not do that is inconsolable.”
-Sydney J. Harris, Strictly Personal

6.) Another thing guaranteed to reduce intrinsic motivation is comparing too much with other people. Nothing will get you feeling crappy quicker than comparing with others. Of course in sports you get compared to other people, but spend more mental energy focusing on your strengths and challenges than on the competition. In the world of auto racing, nothing will hurt intrinsic motivation more than always comparing with the person who has the fastest, coolest car with the greatest tow rig, etc. etc. It doesn’t mean you can’t look at nice stuff, be happy for the other person for what they have, or even think of ways that you can work to have that. But being jealous or envious of others will only make you feel bad about yourself. Psychologists call this upward social comparison when you compare to people who have better or more stuff than you do. This will probably just make you feel bad. Now of course you can also downward compare with those who have less than you, it might make you feel better temporarily but in the long run it probably will just make you realize that someone else could be downward comparing with YOU! No matter how fast, how cool, how new, or how good your race car is, there is always going to be somebody with something better (and probably somebody with something worse). The secret is being happy with where you are at and not feeling the need to compare with others. You should work on constantly improving yourself and capitalizing on your own strengths and working on your own challenges.

7.) Pump yourself up! To help you stay motivated you also might want to try getting some motivational music or coming up with some motivational sayings or quotes. Figure out ways to get or keep yourself motivated for your sport and for life!

Well are you feeling motivated? Do you feel ready to practice, ready to perform, ready to capitalize on your strengths, ready to work on your challenges? I hope so! I feel motivated just writing this! Remember that true success is not measured by winning one game or event or even having one winning season. True success is measured by consistently competing and staying motivated over the years. If you have any questions, comments please email me at tegglest (at) mckendree.edu.

Tami Eggleston, Ph.D. is an associate professor of psychology at McKendree University in Lebanon, Illinois. She received her Ph.D. from Iowa State University in social psychology. She teaches sport psychology and conducts mental training with the volleyball, softball, soccer, and bowling teams at McKendree University. She and her husband, Mike, campaign a rear-engine, big block Chevy dragster at various drag races in the Midwest. She writes a monthly column for Drag News Magazine entitled, Think to Win, and is an invited speaker at the Drag News Expo on the topic of the psychology of drag racing. Her areas of expertise include team dynamics, the psychology of auto racing, women in sports, and commitment.

BLOG: http://drivingsecrets.com/blog/
Email: tegglest (at) mckendree.edu
Website: http://faculty.mckendree.edu/tami_eggleston/

Practice intensity is the will, commitment, and enthusiasm to practice with a purpose. Most coaches consider it an important characteristic of any successful team. The best players and teams have learned to get the most out of practices. They come to practice with an intense focus that directs them to enthusiastic, determined, goal-driven training. In youth sport very talented players often just ‘get by’ and are not intense in practice. They can cheat themselves for a while, but eventually others that practice with intensity catch up and pass them. ‘Going through the motions’ regularly in practice will stall your progress as an athlete. What you need to do is make practice intensity a habit. This column will explain practice intensity, highlight some possible causes, and help you develop ways of enhancing your practice intensity.

Intensity is not as simple as either you have it or you do not. Intensity must be viewed along a continuum where players can be over- or under-intensified. Thus, an appropriate level of intensity will lead to the best practices…..

Accordingly, sport psychologist Jim Taylor (1993) suggests that there are three important aspects of practice intensity including; (1) an ideal level of intensity is needed to play your best, (2) it is a positive feeling, and (3) the optimal level of practice intensity is different for all players. Let us now examine possible reasons for a lack of practice intensity.

Players that ‘go through the motions’ drive coaches insane. Why would players come to practice lacking intensity when it is obvious that good practices lead to good performances? Usually it is not intended. Instead, athletes that lack practice intensity may not be able to tell you the cause. Fortunately, research has provided some insights into this problem. Under-intensity often is the result of poor preparation, a lack of motivation, and fatigue. Moreover, under-intense players frequently lack goals or a plan for practice. Please reflect back to a practice when you were ‘going through the motions.’ Attempt to determine the reason(s) why you lack practice intensity.

Intensity level recognition is vital to focused practices. I often tell players to “check-in” with themselves right before practices or games to determine their level of intensity. Then we use an intensity meter to rate their level. A rating of 1 means that you are early asleep, and a 10 equals high intensity; maybe so intense that you are not focused on the appropriate things in practice. A log is a great way to track your intensity levels in practice. You can then determine after a couple of weeks what intensity level coincided with your best practices. An important note is that you should track you intensity for at least several weeks, otherwise you may get a “false reading” and not obtain the true optimal level of intensity.

Once you have determined your appropriate level of practice intensity, it is time to use several skills to increase practice intensity. You should think of these skills not just as strategies a player uses to increase intensity during practice, but as a way of consistent practice preparation. As mentioned earlier, players often lack intensity because they are not prepared. Developing a preparation plan before practices that include the following skills will help you eliminate ‘going through the motions.’ First, all good practices are goal-driven. Goals are achievement standards set to direct behavior (i.e., I will learn the forward crossover). Therefore, goals give us a clear purpose for practicing. It is amazing how many players go to practice without a goal. It is like driving a car without knowing the destination. Do not allow practice to be haphazard and lackadaisical. Set goals for improving skills, tactics, and techniques so that you will be on the road of progress every single practice. Chart your goals daily and list whether or not you successfully achieved your goal.

The second skill an athlete should make a habit is using cue words, phrases, and images that refocus behavior. These skills will help you overcome a lack of motivation or fatigue. For instance, when you are lacking practice intensity you should use an invigorating cue or effort phrase of “come on, let’s get intense” to increase intensity. Or, use an image of a time when you were playing great, practicing hard, or had great intensity. Finally, many athletes will think of powerful images such as a rocket launching or a leopard sprinting to increase intensity. In conjunction with these cue words, phrases, and images players can begin to increase their own intensity by running in place with high knees or performing quick starts and stops. ‘Going through the motions’ in practice undermines your attempts to improve as an athlete. Setting goals and using cues and images are important to increasing intensity. To become your best you must make practice intensity a habit. Pushing your limits every single practice will enable you to improve skills and develop into a consistent peak performer.

Taylor, J. (1993). The mental edge for tennis. (4th ed.) Aurora, CO: Minutemen Press.

The above article was written by Larry Lauer, Ph. D.
Institute for the Study of Youth Sports, Michigan State University
It appeared on the AAASP website. Here’s the link.

Ever had those days. When you just didn’t want to get out of bed, didn’t want to go to work or school/uni, and the last thing you wanted to do was go to training. Or maybe you have found yourself going through the same old training session doing the same old thing and confused as to where it is all taking you. Or maybe you have found yourself wondering what it is that you want to achieve in your life, what it is that you want to achieve in your weightlifting?

These feelings are very familiar for many athletes. At times it can get so frustrating that you may decide to take the quick option. You may choose not to work through your confusion, leaving many questions unanswered and possibly making a decision that you may later regret – such as leaving the sport that you love, weightlifting.

The above feelings may be experienced when you are just not motivated, or you are unsure about what you want to do with your life and your sport. One way of working through all of the confusion is to sit down and work out what it is that you want to do -

* what do you want to achieve with your weightlifting?

* what do you want to achieve with your education?

* what do you want to achieve with your work?

* what do you want to do for yourself?

By working out what it is that you want to achieve, you can bring direction back into your training and into your life. What you may also find is that your motivation levels will increase because you have identified some goals in your life that you want to achieve. Having these goals will give you something to aim for and something to work towards.

When setting goals for yourself, you need to firstly identify what your main goal is (eg. lift a particular weight, make it on to a particular team). You then need to decide what you have to do to help you achieve your main goal – these being stepping stones to your main goal. For example, you want to lift a particular weight by the end of the year, so the stepping stones would be looking at what you have to do in training and how you would have to look after yourself.

There are some important points that need to be remembered when setting goals:

1. make them specific – such as you want to lift 80kg in the snatch, rather than I want to do my best snatch
2. set short-term goals with deadlines – you will more likely achieve your long term-goals if you break them down into a series of short-term goals
3. make your goals challenging but achievable – a goal which is challenging or difficult will lead to the best performance rather than a goal that is moderate or easy
4. be flexible – a goal will become more important to you if it is interesting, challenging and it gives you direction
5. set goals together – discuss your goals with your coach as this will allow you both to work towards the same goals.
6. write goals and set priorities – record you goals in your training diaries as will allow you to watch your progress and write them in order of importance.
7. identify how you may sabotage your goals – sometimes you may avoid trying to achieve your goals, so it is important that you have an action plan to prevent this from occurring.

Goal setting can be seen as another way of planning. What is that old saying “Those who fail to plan, plan to fail.”

The above article by Yvonne Brett appears on the Queensland Weightlifting Association’s website. Here’s the link.