GOALS PROGRAM SMSU TENNIS

Goals Program SMSU Tennis

Hannah Still

Southwest Minnesota State University

GOALS PROGRAM SMSU TENNIS

The 2015-2016 Southwest Minnesota State (SMSU) women's tennis team goal program

has changed dramatically from previous years. Adam Henning (the head coach) and I are both

new to the program and have been able to create a goal program for our athletes in hopes for our

team to be more successful then ever. Our current athletes have never had a goal program in

place, so it has been a trial and error process in order to decide how we want to implement our

goal program for years to come.

Our goal program is outlined by assessing and analyzing each athlete, creating realistic

and attainable goals, while maintaining focus and having fun throughout the season. I believe in

setting two types of goals: outcome based and performance based. Outcome goals are based off

of an end result, where as performance goals are more short-term based and can be controlled by

the person who sets them. This is where team and individual goals come into play. By setting

any type of goal it helps direct attention to the task at hand and enhance performance both as a

team and individually. I also believe that in order to be successful and reach goals, that my

athletes should be able to work together effectively and get along. Teammates need to be able to

understand and communicate well with each other, in addition to having a mutual support

system. Every year, new recruits are going to come in a create diversity, while potentially

changing the dynamic of the team which demonstrates why teamwork is extremely important

when trying to reach a common goal.

Adam and I have created an athlete-centered environment where we provide our athletes

with resources and routines in order to achieve a positive outcome. This helps develop a

willingness to learn and allows our athletes to feel comfortable in the learning environment.

Adam Henning quotes, We create an open learning environment by encouraging questions from
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our student athletes about why we are doing what we are doing. When we start or implement a

new drill, we explain the drill, why we are doing it and what benefits are drawn from it. Drills

are usually implemented and ran from conclusions derived from components in which we

struggle during matches (personal interview, March, 2016). A few examples of some aspects

within our learning environment include: starting off each practice with a routine, incorporating

fun games at the end of each practice, and mixing up every practice with new drills to improve

different areas within the team.

My college coach used to say A team without a goal, is like a house without a frame ---

it will simply fall apart. A team goal is a powerful motivation tool in sport performance and can

help athletes reach their full potential. At the beginning of the season, we sat down as a team to

decide what we wanted to accomplish as a whole and came to the conclusion that our goal was to

make it to the conference tournament. This would be a huge accomplishment considering that

the SMSU women's tennis team has not made it to the conference tournament, let alone had a

winning season, in many years. To achieve this, we would need four conference wins, so this

seemed to be an attainable goal. Unfortunately, it looks as if we will not be making it to the

conference tournament this year, so this will just have to be something for us to work harder for

next season. This first season of being a college tennis coach was able to open my eyes to what

needs to be improved to reach a goal we desire. Luckily, we have been able to bring in some

new recruits for the upcoming season that could potentially bring us to a higher competitive level

and possibly help in reaching our conference goal. Another aspect that we want to incorporate

for next year is writing the team goal on a poster board and have is posted somewhere, such as

the locker room, so that the girls can see it on a daily basis. Having that visual aid might help us
GOALS PROGRAM SMSU TENNIS

not lose sight of what we want to achieve.

As a former college athlete, my coach would have a meeting with each athlete to discuss

what our goals were for the season and also discuss both outcome and performance goals. At the

end of each season, we would have another individual meeting to go over whether we met our

goals and what we could do to improve for next season. This is absolutely something that I have

carried over and included in my first year coaching . Enforcing my athletes to set goals will help

them achieve optimal performance, as well as helping them understand where they are currently

and where they want to be. When incorporating individual goals, I have each athlete distinguish

between subjective and objective goals. Subjective goals are not going to be related to

performance, rather than effort, where as objective goals are strictly based on an athletes

performance. Each athlete is going to have a different goal compared to their teammate, which is

based off of their level and where they are in our line up. For example, my number one seed

player is going to have different goals than my number six seed player.

When having meetings with our athletes, it was interesting to see the diversity in

individual goals throughout the team. For instance, my top player Gabby is very determined

which is easy to see through her goals. When talking with her at the beginning of the season, a

couple of her subjective goals were to come to every practice with a positive attitude and to

never give up no matter how tough her opponent is. Her top objective goal was to cut back on

her unforced errors per match by at least ten shots, as well as creating a short-term goal to win

two more singles matches then she did from the previous season. I would consider these goals to

be very attainable and measurable for someone at her level of play.

On the other hand, one of my lower players went into the season with a completely
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different set of goals in mind. This athlete did not play in the line-up last year, but has a strong

desire to play tennis. She came into the meeting with the goal that she was going to do whatever

it took to play in the line-up. With this she was going to need to improve her footwork and

increase her service percentage. This player put in so much hard work and the extra dedication

to work on her goals before season began, which helped her earn a spot in the line up.

In a completely different scenario, another athlete (Ashley), is very new to tennis. She

has only been playing for 3 years, but she is extremely athletic, understands the game, and wins.

Ashley amazes me because even with her little tennis experience, she went undefeated in the

conference last year. One of her goals that she came into the season with was to go undefeated

once again, even with her knowledge that she would be playing at a higher spot in the line up.

She also wanted to maintain her concentration level and to focus on remaining calm during

pressure situations. This proves that individual goals are going to vary depending on the athlete

and their level, as well as what they are wanting to achieve.

There are multiple components to consider that accompany a goals program. I believe

that having a goals program is a motivational tool in itself; it is just the issue of being able to

maintain that same motivation throughout the whole season. An article that I consistently refer

back to whether it be for motivation within sports, work, or just in general is titled The Ultimate

Guide to Motivation How to achieve any goal (2008). This article contributes many great

points of how to build a momentum that can be sustained for a long time such as starting small

and working towards a bigger goal. With this, it is important that I also tell my athletes not to

create too many goals at once because it is hard to focus on a ridiculous amount of goals at the

same time. This could create a lack of focus and energy. Another great point that this article
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brings attention to is to set a goal that you 'really, really want' because then it becomes a goal that

the athlete is passionate about and will be more exciting when the goal is finally reached. This

article is also where I got the idea to write down the team goal on piece of paper and post it

somewhere that can be seen on a regular basis.

Another component to consider is properly managing fatigue. I firmly believe that

athletes should have a considerable amount of rest while in season. Adam and I usually give our

athletes the weekend off to recover from a long week of practicing, which ensures that the girls

will comes to Monday's practice with a high level of energy. When it is a weekend that we have

back to back matches, Friday's practices get cut short and Monday's are used to recover. Reggie

Johal, the founder of Predator Nutrition and someone who has been working with athletes and

sports nutritionists since 1994, developed an article explaining how athletes should handle

fatigue. He ensures how important sleep is and that athletes should get 8-10 hours of sleep a

night and try to limit stress. Johal (n. d.) quotes Focus on one or at most two goals you wish to

improve and accept you will be happy to maintain your performance across everything else.

This will prevent athletes from getting psyched out and guarantee a lack of fatigue.

A growth mindset goes hand in hand with considering peak performance. In order to

reach goals, athletes need to compete exceptionally and perform to the maximum of their ability.

It is all about being able to develop intelligence. An athlete who is able to embrace challenges,

persist despite of obstacles, and can understand constructive criticism will have a greater chance

of hitting their peak performance compared to an athlete that gives up easily and avoids

challenges. Sometimes people with the growth mindset stretch themselves so far that they do

the impossible (Dweck, 2006, p. 22). The book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success,
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written by Carol S. Dweck, goes deep into the topic of whether goals are approached with a fixed

or a growth mindset. This has helped me to have a better understanding of why some athletes are

able to hit their peak performance in comparison to those who cannot.

It seems as if everything always come back around to communication, even within a

goals program. Part of my coaching philosophy is to strive to have an open communication with

my athletes (as a team and individually), as well as with my supervisor, professional mentor, and

head coach Adam Henning. I am able to effectively communicate with Adam and my athletes by

being reliable and consistent, which has created trusting relationships. The Kantian philosophy

is a great example of communication, respect, and trust which exhibits everything that I believe

as a person and a coach. This philosophy states that athletes should not be used as a mere means

to a goal (Simon, 2013, p.45). Coaches should not be treating their athletes as a way to achieve

victory, but more so respect them as a person. This is why Adam and I like our athletes to

collectively establish a team goal, in addition to developing individual goals to show that we are

acknowledging them and what they want to accomplish, instead of what WE want them to

accomplish. Productive communication and working together as a team is the key to success.

The goal program for the SMSU women's tennis team is still a work in progress. Adam

and I have not perfected the process, but we believe that the program is in much better shape

ever since instilling some type of goal program for our athletes. I believe that with more

experience and the longer that I am able to work with Adam by my side, we will be able to turn

the tennis team around. We are definitely headed in the right direction and every year will be a

new learning experience. As Albert Einstein quoted, Learning is experience. Everything else is

just information.
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References

Henning, A. (2016, March). Personal interview.

Dweck, C. S. (2006). Mindset: The new psychology of success. (p. 22) New York: Random

House

Johal, R. (n. d.). How a serious athlete should handle fatigue. Breaking Muscle. Retrieved from

http://breakingmuscle.com/mobility-recovery

Simon, R. (2013).The ethics of coaching sports moral,social, and legal issues (p. 45-46).

Boulder, CO: Westview Press.

The ultimate guide to motivation how to achieve any goal. (2008). Zen Habits. Retrieved from

http://zenhabits.net/the-ultimate-guide-to-motivation-how-to-achieve-any-goal/