Q) Explain why setting goals would be helpful to a performer when planning and carrying out a development plan. (4).
Answer Key:
Mark for explanation

‘A performer should set goals when planning their development plan as it will give each training session a specific focus. This means performers can fully concentrate on a specified weakness that they need to improve as it can help them select relevant approaches that complements their goal.’

‘A performer should also set goals when planning their training programme as it can be used to boost their motivation levels. This means performer will really want to achieve the goals they have selected and will give 100% effort into every session and also ask their coach for further feedback in order to improve. With such levels of desire, it can also lead to performers doing extra training outside the training ground to further bolster their weaknesses.’

‘Setting goals can also help a performer track and monitor their progress. This means performers can assess how effective their development plan is by seeing if they have been reaching their goals. If they find they have been reaching their goals, it can lead to them getting a confidence boost and setting even higher goals in the future to ensure they do not hit a plateau. If however they find they have not been reaching their goals, it can lead to them investigating why this has been happening and adapting their plan to make it more relevant to their performance levels.’

LEARNING CHECKLIST
Can you now answer:
1) Explain why it is important to set goals before beginning a training programme.

Now that we know how it is beneficial to set goals, we need to consider how we set effective goals.