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Goal-setting and motivation

Goal-setting can be one of the most important and powerful coaching tools to give racing cyclists direction and help them to achieve success.

Why set goals?

Goal-setting can help to:

improve organisation and planning skills
agree priorities and make decisions
focus attention on key issues
direct effort to different tasks
enhance or maintain motivation through the achievement of success
monitor progress and provide feedback.

To maximise potential, goals must be difficult. There must be a challenge.

They should be owned by you, the rider. One aim of goal-setting is to motivate you - positive feedback is the most powerful aid to self-confidence. The sequence is:

Types of goal - there are two types

Outcome goals

These focus on the end results, examples being coming first, winning a medal or being selected for the team. They can be very useful as long-term goals or where effort is the key factor.

The difficulty with this type of outcome goal is that it is generally affected by the performance of others and not therefore completely under your control. For example, you can lose the race because someone else performs extraordinarily well. You may have achieved a personal best but still not won.

Process goals

This type of goal specifies what you have to do to be successful and usually refers to an element of performance…. like covering every break in a road race.

Process goals are particularly valuable for intermediate and short-term goals and where improvement is a key factor. This is because process goals, unlike outcome goals, are more directly under the cyclist's control (ie you can control your own performance but not that of the opposition.

Prioritising goals

It is not realistic to set goals or to expect to achieve them without first deciding on priorities. Your priorities are your street signs - without them you can wander down any number of streets and may never reach your destination.

Planning your route

When planning a route, you need to know:
where you have to go (ie the specific goal)
how long it will realistically take
precisely where you are right now
some landmarks en route to help you check you are on the right track.

Goals should be SMARTER

OK it's a fancy mnemonic and the seven parts of it are:

Specific

If the goal is too vague (eg I want to get faster) it won't help you to focus…. better to say to finish in the Top 10 in all races.

Measurable

If you can't measure progress, you can't assess whether or not you have been successful

Agreed

The rider must accept and agree with the goal. If only a coach sets the goal it might well be meaningless.

Realistic

If it is too difficult, the rider will either fail frequently or lose confidence.

Time-phased

Progress must be in planned steps. If you do not set target dates there is a danger that all your good intentions will be postponed.

Exciting

If a goal is too easy, it offers no challenge, little motivation and consequently no satisfaction on accomplishment. Goals need to be exciting.

Recorded

It is valuable to write down your goals as it increases commitment, it serves as a form of contract. It also helps in monitoring progress and provides a form of motivation.

Here's a recap from an indoor meeting that Surrey League put on to help with goal setting. It was a while ago, but none of the principles have changed.

The speaker was Simon Doughty, a senior coach and tutor for British Cycling Coach Education.

Should I have a recovery period after the end of the racing season?

Yes. It is important to have a recovery period before settling down to the next winter's training programme as that once you've started training you are taking part in a sequence of preparations that will carry you through to the next racing season

Setting goals

A show of hands amongst the 30 racing cyclists in the room established that half the riders present did not set annual goals. Of those who do set goals, half achieved them last year, while the other half didn't. This finding raises the question: "Were their goals the right goals?"

The right time to set goals is before starting your winter training programme as it gives you focus and you know what you're aiming for.

Riders on the World Class Performance Plan actually have to sign up to their goals, a situation that signifies a commitment. Other riders are known to pin a notice above their bikes, put a copy of their goals under their pillow, or clip their targets onto a bathroom mirror.

Sharing goals with someone else is a good idea as once information is shared in this way, it is harder to back out from it.