Spotting Your Target: Goal Setting for Enhanced Performance in Competitive Diving

As coaches and athletes. we have all encountered teams and individuals in the sporting world that begin their season with the best of intentions and much enthusiasm, but then seem to lose their focus and fail to reach their potential. We are also familiar with athletes who have trouble getting and staying motivated. or who tend to waste time and energy in practice, often unknowingly. These common problems in athletics, as well as many others encountered regularly, can be overcome through the use of an effective goal setting program.

Most athletes who are competitively active, regardless of the sport. have some standard of performance which they seek to attain in the future. More clearly stated. it is safe to assume that the majority of athletes have some type of personal performance goal in their minds. How effective these goals are in guiding one's training and enhancing one's performance depends upon a number of factors, each of which requires a certain degree of planning on the part of both the diver and the diving coach. The importance of goal setting should not be overlooked. When systematically organized and implemented, the goal setting process can become an extremely powerful means of enhancing motivation and facilitating athletic performance. The purpose of the following discussion is to provide competitive divers and coaches with specific guidelines which can be utilized to assist in putting together an effective goal setting program.

Dr. Daniel Gould, a sport psychologist at the University of Illinois, has formulated a bad outline of goal setting guidelines based on his extensive theoretical research and practical experiences with competitive athletes. These practical guidelines will be presented as they apply to springboard and platform diving.

1. First of all, to be most effective, goals should be as specific as possible and they should be set in measurable and behavioral terms. For a diver, examples of specific goals would be scoring 500 points in an upcoming meet, averaging at least 6-1/2's on all three meter optionals, or swinging the arms through by the bottom of the press on 3 of 4 reverse twisters in today's practice. These are far more effective than general goals such as "to do my best." While this is always a desirable intention. as a performance goal, it is unfocused and not easily measured.

2. Goals should also be difficult, but at the same time, re;realistic. Research has found that, in general, the more difficult the goal, the higher the performance level. It is important to understand that this relationship exists only up to a certain point, as unrealistic goals can lead to decreased self-confidence and motivation due to failure, which in turn, can lead to lower performance levels in the future. Performance goals should always be challenging. as there is little or no motivational value to easily reached goals but also attainable with training and dedication.

3. When athletes do employ a personal goal setting process, there is a strong tendency to emphasize only long-range goals, objectives often viewed as being their ultimate in athletic achievement. These are goals which may require years of training to attain. An example for many divers might be to become an Olympic or National Team member. For others, it might be to qualify for a National Championship event. Regardless of the specifics of the goal, what is important is that divers also have a series of intermediate and short-term goals. Intermediadiate-range goals are those which take considerably less time to reach, perhaps a season or a month. These goals represent desired performance standards that, when reached, serve as stepping stones towards one's long-range goals. Increasing the consistency of scoring 600 points in important events would be an appropriate intermediate goal for a male diver who aspires to make the national team on springboard. Another example would be to raise one's degree of difficulty over the course of a season to prepare for future meets. Short-term goals are valuable in that they enable athletes to enjoy immediate success thus enhancing motivation and increasing self confidence. Specific short-term goals can serve to structure a diver's training, with the attainment of each one being another step towards ultimate success. These short-term objectives should include performance goals, such as ripping 10 of 15 line-ups daily, as well as conditioning goals.

4. Another important consideration involved in the goal setting process is the need to set performance goals, those which focus on improvements relative to past personal performance, as opposed to outcome goals. Outcome goals are those which are based on the actual results of a particular contest and often depend upon factors which the athlete cannot control, such as the performance of other participants. To illustrate, suppose an athlete exhibits the finest performance of his life, scoring 50 points better than his previous best and finishing second to another competitor by just a few points. If this diver's meet goal was based on performance, he would clearly consider the contest a success. On the other hand, if this diver's goal was to win the meet (outcome), he may view his performance as a failure even though it was the best of his life. Performance goals are more effective than and are preferred over outcome goals because they are within the athletes control and are much more flexible. They provide the diver with a sense of control and self direction.

5. Similar to the tendency for athletes to set primarily long-range goals, they also tend to set predominantly competition goals, resulting in the exclusion of everyday practice goals. When one compares the amount of time spent in practice with the t; me spent in competition. it seems only logical that divers place considerable emphasis on practice goals as well. Practice goals can function to force a diver to key in on the important aspects of each of his dives daily and can also help to alleviate some of the potential boredom that might develop from practicing repetitively day in and day out. Daily practice goals can make a diver challenge himself when he's feeling good and keep practices worthwhile when he'd rather be somewhere else.

6. Although not always possible, an effort should always be made to set positive as opposed to negative goals. It is generally better to place emphasis on desired behaviors rather than undesirable ones. An example of a negative practice goal would be "to learn not to lean back during the takeoffs of my back twisting optionals." A more appropriate positive practice goal would be "to be able to perform, by the end of the week, four of five back twisters where I stay balanced in my press and keep my weight directly over my toes throughout the takeoff.

Thus far, six important factors involved in the identification of individual goals have been stressed. Once a diver's goals have been properly identified according to the above specifications, certain additional guidelines and procedures which will enhance the effectiveness of these goals should be followed:

Target Dates

Target dates for attaining all goals should be identified. This includes designating separate dates for short-term, intermediate, and long-range goals. Specifying these target dates will allow the diver and coach to assess the progress made towards goal attainment and can also serve a motivating function by creating incentive within the athlete to train harder.

Record Goals

All goals, along with their respective target dates, should be recorded on paper to prevent them from being forgotten and to serve as a constant reminder to the diver. It is a worthwhile practice to attach a copy of each diver's goal sheet to lockers or bedroom walls where they can be seen daily.

Goal Achievement Strategies

Another key aspect of the goal setting process is the identification of detailed goal achievement strategies. These are specific tasks or drills which will assist in the attainment of one's goals. For example, suppose a diver has indicated an intermediate goal to be able to "rip all of his voluntary dives by a certain date. A very appropriate goal achievement strategy for this athlete would be to perform at least 15 extra forward and 15 extra backward line-up entries at the conclusion of each workout.

Drills and tasks such as getting in the spotting belt "x number of times per week. executing "x" number of forward and backward jumps into the port-a-pit each day. or performing "x" number of extra lead-ups on a daily basis are all very effective goal achievement strategies which can accelerate the attainment of particular goals.

Goal Evaluation and Support

Finally, for the goal setting process to be as effective as possible, it is imperative that athletes are provided with evaluation and support. Evaluative feedback is absolutely necessary if goals are to enhance performance. It is crucial that coaches make sure their divers are kept aware of their individual progress towards the achievement of goals as well as the quality of their performances.

Goal support on the other hand, involves not only the diver's coach, but also significant others associated with the athlete, such as friends and family. Meaningful support requires a certain amount of knowledge of the sport on the part of significant others as well as a bit of personal tact. Thoughtful questions and comments on a developing athlete's personal performance at a recent contest are far more meaningful and supportive than the usual "What place did you get?..Oh yeah?...Out of how many?"

Goal setting is one process by which athletic performance can be improved. It has been used with considerable success in diving as well as in other sports and domains outside the athletic world, as in business or government. This paper has focused on basic guidelines which can be easily followed to set useful goals and on on procedures which will increase the effectiveness of these goals' performance enhancing capabilities in competitive diving. It cannot be emphasized enough that goal setting should be a very systematic process and that it should be followed as such if it is to rep it's full benefits.

Carefully planned and diligently carried out, the goal setting process is a highly productive means of enhancing performance in diving. Divers and coaches who are skilled in employing these techniques and strategies carry a distinct advantage over their competitors who fail to make effective use of the goal setting process.