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The Best Goals in Youth Hockey

By Minnesota Hockey, 10/05/15, 2:00PM CDT

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The State Tournament.

There it is. Goal setting in Minnesota wrapped up in three words. If you ask the kids, they can do it in two (#TheTourney).

If only it was that easy.

The purpose of goal setting in sports is to help motivate athletes to improve their performance. Considering nearly every team in Minnesota starts the season with going to Regions or State as a goal and only eight make it at each level, that goal could potentially have a negative impact on players’ performance if it’s the only goal they set.

“When you base your season on wins and start encountering unforeseen situations like injuries and illnesses, the morale in the room can go south quickly,” said Andover’s boys high school hockey coach Mark Manney. “You want to start with an overall season goal and then work your way backwards from there. Those intermediate goals are very rarely about wins.”

It’s good for kids to enter the season with high hopes, but the type of goals that will really separate teams over the course of the year are focused on development instead of wins.

SMART Goals

In order for goals to be effective in motivating players, they need to follow certain guidelines. Sport psychologists, who specialize in maximizing performance through the use of mental training strategies, typically recommend using SMART goals. SMART refers to goals that are Specific, Measurable, have an Action item, are Realistic and must be completed within a set Time.

Manney also points out that it’s important to vary your approach to goal setting by the type of team you have. Younger kids have a shorter attention span so focusing on weekly or monthly goals and reinforcing them with visuals are typically the most effective.

 “By Thanksgiving, we want everyone to be able to skate backwards and do crossovers both ways,” would be a good example of a goal for Mites/8U said Manney. “Or we want to be able to stick handle the width of the ice without losing the puck.”

One of the other challenges parents and coaches face is getting kids to align their individual goals with team goals.  The best way to do that is to have players tailor their individual goals toward improving certain skills and/or accomplishing tasks that also help the team.

"We encourage kids to set [individual] goals too,” said Manney, who also serves as the District 10 Coach-in-Chief. “Not about points, because we don't want them trying to achieve individual goals over team goals but to set goals like achieving a high plus/minus or lifting weights a certain number of times each week."

Climbing the Pyramid

Once players understand what effective goals look like, the next step is choosing what areas to set goals in. There are three main types of goals that players and teams can set.  Outcome goals are related to specific results of a game or season (ex: going to State!). Performance goals are focused on statistics during a practice or competition (ex: complete 10 passes in a row), and process goals are the most detailed, often placing an emphasis on the actual skill being performed (ex: achieve full extension on outside edge during crossovers).

Each type of goal plays a unique and important role in the goal setting process. Some coaches use a pyramid approach where they use each of the goals in a sequence starting with a season long outcome goal and breaking it down into short term performance and process goals. When deciding how to utilize each type of goals, it’s important to consider the age of players involved.

“At younger ages, goals need to be more progress oriented,” said Manney.

For Mites/8U, the most important outcome is for kids to learn to love hockey and develop a passion for improving their own skills. The best way to do that is to generate excitement by helping them see how much they improve over the course of the season.

As players mature mentally and emotionally, performance goals should take on a larger role. Setting goals on topics such as shots for, shots against, blocked shots or limiting the number of penalties taken during games can help players learn responsibility and accountability while motivating them to play at a higher level.

“Don’t worry about the outcome,” said Manney. “We stress that a lot. If the process is good, the outcome will take care of itself. Try to get them to live in the moment and not worry about the bigger picture.”

“[Eventually], they learn certain behaviors lead to a desired outcome, and if enough kids modify their behavior in a positive way, they learn they can achieve some very lofty goals.”

Once players see that in action, the possibilities are endless.  And they may just end up including that trip to the State Tournament. 

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