Forza Athletics
  • Forza Home
  • Testimonials
  • Doc's Thoughts
  • Podcast
  • Forza Store
  • Contact Information
  • Forza Home
  • Testimonials
  • Doc's Thoughts
  • Podcast
  • Forza Store
  • Contact Information
Search
Click Here to Throw Farther
Overcoming Pre-Comp Anxiety Strategies

​A Goal Setting Framework for Throwers

10/1/2020

1 Comment

 
Last night I had a great chat with Joe Frontier of the Madison Throws Club in Wisconsin.  We spent a lot of time discussing the goal-setting process and how I have incorporated “my process” with the kids I’ve coached over the years. Since I started my coaching career, I have had a paradigm shift with regards to best practices in goal-setting that may lead to a higher succession rate of accomplishing one’s goals or seasonal outcomes.
 
When I began my coaching career, I was 100% focused on outcome goals.  I assumed that the throwers I was coaching all wanted to throw far and win conference championships.  I quickly learned that it wasn’t necessarily the case.  For a vast majority of the collegiate throwers I’ve worked with, simply being on the team and throwing far enough to compete at a conference championship was enough for them.  
 
With that said, however, I made sure to communicate that under no circumstances would their differences in goals hold the throwers back that had greater aspirations for themselves (winning a conference championship, competing at nationals, earning All-American, or winning a national championship).
 
What I’ve learned over the years is that it’s ok for an athlete to not want to be a conference champion.  Simply being on the team was sufficient for them.  I beg to think that at the Division I or II level there wouldn’t be that many athletes on the team with that type of mindset.  
 
What follows is the goal-setting framework I implement with my throwers.

  1. Identify an outcome you wish to achieve (process or outcome, but I always prefer process)
  2. Be able to share and explain why that outcome or series of outcomes is important to you? 
  3. Recognize sacrifices that will probably need to be made in order to achieve the specific outcome(s)
  4. What obstacles will you need to overcome in order to achieve your desired outcome(s)
 
I give these four questions to my athletes before we have a more formal one-on-one meeting.  Usually a week or two later, after a few practices, we sit down and discuss their thoughts.  The time in-between sharing the questions and discussing their responses gives both the athlete and myself an opportunity to determine if the desired outcomes are going to be realistically achieved during the season.  It also gives me a chance to think about daily, weekly, monthly, and seasonal accountability checkpoints that can be implemented throughout the course of the season.
1 Comment

    Dr. Charles Infurna

    Charles Infurna, Ed.D., is the owner and lead coach of Forza Athletics Track Club.  Dr. Infurna has coached National Record Holders, National Champions, All-Americans, and Conference Champions at the Post-Collegiate, Collegiate, and High School level.

    Archives

    January 2023
    November 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    August 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    May 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    April 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    October 2017
    July 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Forza Home
  • Testimonials
  • Doc's Thoughts
  • Podcast
  • Forza Store
  • Contact Information