Goal Setting

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Jun 1, 2015
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Attached is one that I plan to use for my 12u team this spring. I forget if I found it online or if a fellow coach passed it along. Good luck and have fun this season!

I actually REALLY, REALLY like this format and setup. I coach a 16U rec team during the summer (in a league I also manage), and I've traditionally had my girls use the "SMART" setup (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Timely) for their goals: 3 for themselves and 3 for the team. Unfortunately, what I've discovered is that the "specific" part gets thrown to the wayside when they set their goals. I often get "Be a better runner", "slide more", and "cheer on the team", and those aren't things you can really quantify the way they are phrased. This is a bit more personalized and puts the control in the player's hands as to how they feel about specific areas. I'm likely going to "selectively borrow" it (the SAT way to say I'm stealing it) and using it for this summer. :)
 
Jul 1, 2019
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One thing that I found very useful coaching 8-14u, was asking them. In all honesty, what matters the most to them is what should matter the most to you. Find out what THEY want out of this.

I had every player (coaching both baseball and softball thru these ages) write down their goals. Short term (1-4 weeks), mid term (this season), and long term (next three years) goals. My job was to help them obtain these goals, or at least make progress towards reaching them. Not everyone wants the same thing and you can't expect the same effort/attitude/drive out of everyone. Help them reach their goals and you'll have girls/boys who not only want to play for you, but want to come back and play next year.

Make sure their goals are obtainable, and explain this to them, make them realistic (no pitcher needs a goal of an era of .002 for the season and no batter needs a goal of a .950 batting average). But have them set a benchmark, and work toward that goal. It makes them accountable because it's their goal, not yours.
 

GIMNEPIWO

GIMNEPIWO
Dec 9, 2017
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VA
Devils advocate .... Do 11 & 12 year old girls have goals related to a stick and ball game that aren't actually their parents goals for them ?
 
Jul 1, 2019
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Devils advocate .... Do 11 & 12 year old girls have goals related to a stick and ball game that aren't actually their parents goals for them ?
Many don't, but some do. There was no doubt at 11 that DD was driven with long term goals of pitching in college. Another teammate of hers was the exact same just not a pitcher. The others on that team loved to play and had no idea what they wanted. Finding out those answers allows you to make sure they are getting what they want/need out of the season.
 
May 20, 2015
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one thing to think about.....use these goals as a guide for feedback sessions.......

we used to do a bunch of scaffolded feedback sessions......first one came from coaches via email to both parents & player or on a 3x5 card that they brought home......what they are doing well, what we'd like to see them work on....this was good to get parents close to the same page as the coaching staff, and helped head off issues down the road

2nd was a face to face.....coaches & player, same thing....what they have done well, what they need to work on was the basis of the convo, players were able to ask questions, etc

3rd was face to face, we asked the player to give the feedback, same criteria

4th was as a team.....each player discussed what they were doing well, what they needed to work on, and what they felt team was doing well, what the team needed to work on

5th was as a team, and teammates gave the feedback to each other......ie we talked about "mary" - what she was doing well, what she needed to improve/could improve


you could easily work the goals into these feedback sessions; you don't have to follow the format we used by any means, but revisit the goals throughout the season to check on progress, check and adjust the goals if needed, set new goals, etc
 

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