Identifying a goal 

To create a goal you must include; 

1. A specific sub factor 

2. A timescale

3. A method of measuring progress (usually a test)

4. A baseline measurement or score and what you want to take it to.  

Short Term Goal Example 

I want to improve my communication in Basketball over the next week, I want to improve my communication score in the PPW from a 4 to a 5. 

Long Term Goal Example 

I want to improve my CRE in Swimming. In 10 weeks, I want to improve my bleep test score from 10.1 to 11.2. 

Short Term - timescale less than 2 weeks. The next session, next day or next week...

Medium Term - timescale less than 6 weeks. 

Long Term - time scale 10 weeks or more. End of year/season...

SMART Targets

Specific 

Measurable 

Achievable/agreed 

Reversible/realistic 

Time bound 

Specific - specific to you and your weakness/skill level or level of fitness

Measurable - measure if you have met this goal/target - reference a test 

Achievable/agreed - targets need to be hard to achieve and agreed with a coach 

Reversible/realistic - targets need to be realistic and need to also be able to adapt these if you are injured

Time bound - targets should have a time period to complete 

Describe a short term and long term goal a performer may set for themselves when undertaking a development plan (4 marks)

Swimming: 

My short term target was to undertake an interval training session to improve my CRE. In the session I wanted to complete 10 x 50m intervals swimming the front crawl at 80% of my maximum speed.  I had to complete each interval in less that 58 seconds. Improving my CRE will allow me to maintain my speed in the final stages of a race without fatiguing.

My long term target is to reduce my time for the 50m Front Crawl to below 50 seconds by the end of the season.  To achieve this I will use interval training where I work at 80% of my max heart rate during each interval and train 3 days a week for the next 6 weeks.  

Table Tennis: 

During my next match my short term target is process based,  I will use short backspin serves to my opponents backhand side.  When playing the serve I want the ball to land close to the net and stay low to the net so my opponent cannot return my serve with an attacking shot. 

My long term target is outcome base, I want to increase my overall win percentage from 50% to 75% by the end of the season. And get to at least the quarter finals of a competition.  

After collecting information on performance, it is important to have clear goals as part of a PDP. Setting goals provides more structure to training, which can also help motivate a performer to work hard throughout their plan.

Within a PDP, goals can be differentiated by timescale – long term, medium term and short term.

Long-term

Each PDP should have a long-term goal, which is the overall main aim of a PDP. Long-term goals are typically 8-weeks long but they can be longer, depending on the duration of the PDP. An example of a long-term goal is:

I aim to improve my Cooper run score from 2600m to over 3000m in 8 weeks.

Medium term

Medium term goals are typically 3-4 weeks long. They are not generally the main aims of the PDP but can be something that will help the performer achieve their long-term goal. An example of a medium-term goal is:

I want to increase my stride length when completing CRE sessions by the midpoint of my PDP.

Short term

Short term goals can be set for individual sessions and contribute to a performer achieving their overall goal for their PDP. Short-term goals should be based on achievable outcomes for the performer. An example of a short-term goal is:

I want to complete a continuous training session for 25 minutes without walking.

All of these goals will help a performer design a PDP to improve their CRE, allowing them to choose appropriate approaches that will help them do so.

Evaluate the extend to which you achieved the targets you set for yourself (4 marks)

Swimming: 

I achieved my short term target because I completed 10 x 50m intervals. My speed average speed was above 80% of my maximum speed  for 9 out of the 10 intervals because I these in less than my target time of  58 seconds. For the last interval my speed reduced and it took me 1.02. 

I also achieved my long term target and reduced my PB to 48.88 for the 50m Front Crawl. Because my training was effective, I achieved this after 4 weeks which was much quicker than I was aiming for. By the end of the season I swam under 50 seconds 4times. 

Table Tennis: 

During the match I achieved my short term target and consistently used short backspin serves to my opponents backhand side.  Unfortunately, when playing these serves my consistency was not particularly high, sometimes the ball went close to the net and my opponent had to do a push return. Sometimes I hit the serve to low and it hit the net causing me to loose a point. 

By the end of my season I had only increased my win percentage to 60%, this was less than I had hoped. However in my last competition I reached the semi finals, this shows my confidence and performance levels are increasing but i still need to improve more.   

Future Performance Development Goals

The cycle of analysis is an ongoing process that helps a performer identify and plan how to improve various factors that impact on performance. Upon completion of a PDP, monitoring and evaluating data may show that a performer has achieved set goals throughout the process. The cycle should then begin again, so the performer can highlight new development needs that they will work towards to help improve their performance.

The data gathering stage can begin with the monitoring and evaluating data collected at the end of a PDP. For example, a final general observation schedule may show that a drop shot has improved throughout a PDP, becoming a strength, but now the overhead clear has been highlighted as a development need. The performer can use this information to create a new PDP to improve this development need.

If monitoring and evaluating data does not show any specific development needs, a performer should then start the data gathering process again so they can highlight what to improve on next. This can be supported by a coach who can direct a performer towards a specific factor they believe is important for their development. Establishing next development goals ensures the performer continues to improve their performance in future.