Goal Setting Article
Now that summer is here, all of you junior players should be out of school. Which should mean no homework right? Wrong. There is always work if you want to improve. One year when I was a junior I decided to create a count down calendar to mark the first day of Junior Nationals. Every day that passed I tore off a piece of paper, counting down the days in big bold letters. On each piece of paper, in addition to how many days remained, I put a quote or a picture to motivate me. By creating this calendar I was reminding myself daily that I had a long-term goal ahead of myself that I wanted to accomplish. This system also motivated me to work as hard as I could in the short run, when Nationals felt like a long ways away. With any goal setting process- school, work, sports- it is a good idea to create long-term goals, short-term goals, and daily goals.
To begin your goal setting, start with a long-term goal. Don’t be afraid to aim high. Also, get a sheet of paper to keep track of your goals. Depending on the person, this first goal can be one year in the future, or even 10 years down the road. Some examples of long-term goals for junior badminton players may include playing in the Olympics, competing internationally, winning the Adult Nationals, making the Junior Pan Am team, winning first at Junior Nationals, or simply going and competing in the Junior Nationals. With a long-term goal in mind, you now have something that should motivate you and that you can strive towards reaching.
After you have a long-term goal figured out, you will need to break it down into as many short-term goals as you need. It doesn’t matter if your long-term goal is 5 or 15 years away, you will still have to plan out quite a few short-term goals to make sure you are on the right track. The short-term goals should act as markers to help you check your progress and eventually to help you reassess your long-term goal. Some timelines you could use for short-term goals include yearly goals, seasonal goals, tournament goals, monthly goals, or even weekly goals. As an athlete I used to have a list of the players I wanted to beat in singles, and when I beat one of them I would cross them off my list, as well as watch my singles ranking improve. Short-term goals can cover any aspect of the sport including technique, tactics, power, conditioning, mental toughness, or competition results. Talk to your coach or a parent if you need help breaking down and creating short-term goals.
Daily goals or goals for each practice are the next step. Every time you step on the court to play or train you should know why you are there. Ask yourself what you are trying to improve or work on. By creating short-term goals you both give yourself daily motivation as well as a reminder of the long-term goal you are training for. Daily goals may include working on footwork, consistency, practicing visualization, giving 100%, staying focused, doing certain exercises, staying positive, working on specific shots, and the list goes on. If you don’t attend practice daily, then set up goals for each practice you do attend, or decide if you want to do additional work at home on you own. Your daily goal(s) should match up with your short-term goals so that you are practicing what you need to improve on to get where you want to go.
Perhaps most importantly, sit down and plan out all of your goals with a coach, parent, or friend. Make sure that your short-term goals are within your reach, and are measurable. Setting a goal such as, “I want to play well” can not be easily measured. However, setting a goal of, “hitting 90% of my doubles serves in” can be measured. Also, give yourself rewards for accomplishing your short-term goals. Often times achieving a goal is a reward in itself, but not always. The whole process of goal setting will help you throughout your life achieve a number of things- getting into college, finding a good job, and accomplishing your goals in badminton. So sit down with a pen and paper, start thinking, and plan out your path to accomplishing your goals.
