Why Goal Setting is Important for Youth Athletes

January 5, 2022

As adults, we know the importance of setting goals in our lives, but what about the importance of goal setting in the lives of young athletes?

Here are a few reasons why goal setting is so important in young people and why allowing children to set and achieve goals for themselves is even more key:

1. Setting Specific Goals

Teach your children to set goals that outline their desired results. Setting goals that can measure success is more valuable then setting broad and non-specific goals. For example, instead of “Next year I want to be a better goalie” a better goal is to say “By this time next year, I want to improve my save percentage by 10%.” By setting a specific goal you are easily able to measure success and hold yourself accountable.

2. Setting Goals Creates Drive

Once a specific and achievable goal is set, it’s time to work to achieve that goal. Young athletes are now more motivated to accomplish their set goal and will take specific steps in order to succeed.

3. Manifesting Accomplishment

You hear a lot of great athletes say that they envisioned themselves winning Olympic Gold or winning the Championship game. One of the biggest pieces of goal setting is the ability to see yourself accomplishing or surpassing your set goal. If you’re a Figure Skater, you want to envision yourself landing your Axel, if you’re a soccer player you want to envision yourself scoring the winning goal, if you’re a golfer you want to see yourself win the tournament.  This is true for any athlete and any sport. Whatever your goal is, you need to see yourself accomplishing it over and over again until it becomes reality. 

4. Accountability

As touched on above, setting a goal holds you accountable. If you succeed and achieve your goal there is a reward. If you fall sort of hitting your set goal, then there is usually a consequence. Sometimes the fact that you haven’t developed your skill is consequence enough. No matter the outcome, goal setting teaches young athletes that they can influence outcomes in all aspects of life by the effort that they put in.

The beggining of the new year is the perfect time to help your child set specific and realistic goals to work toward in 2022. Our coaches are always here to help with feedback on development and help in reaching those goals.

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