Goals

I am posting this question in the "Getting Started" forum because I thought it would be most useful in this area.

Coach, your work is world class.  I have long been a believer that without goals we won't be able to reach anywhere near our potential.  As a world class Coach what methodology do you use in setting goals for your athletes?  Are your goals solely based on getting a set amount of work done (i.e number of workouts a week)?  Or are they based on achieving mastery of a specific skills and elements?

I think any light you can shed on the process you use to determine and set goals would be invaluable.  I look forward to learning what you have used.

Thanks

Easy answer.

All short term goals are predicated upon what the ultimate long term goal is. Once an appropriate long term goal for that particular athlete's talents and desires has been selected, the various short term goals fall into place accordingly.

For example, I selected Allan as a potential US National Team member at 6 years old. I then extrapolated forward to the routines and physical abilities he would need at 18 years old, and then backstepped all of the developmental stages back to his then current age of 6.

Granted this does require a high degree of knowledge and experience on the part of the coach in order to avoid unprofitable/unnecessary dead ends and forks in the road. It also requires an extremely high degree of patience and perseverance to not stray from the programmed path.

All of his routines and conditioning for the next 10+ years were then designed for continuous forward progress. It is also instructive to note that the basic format of those initial routines is still in place and being used today.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

Coach, just out of interest in how you work w/ athletes: I agree that failing to plan is planning to fail, but there is no way you can look into the future and predict in detail what´ll happen over the next 10 years. How do you account for / plan for set backs, acts of god, etc? How much room for error is there?

As you gain experience, you gain an intuition that looks a lot like an ability to see the future. This is true in many fields, from coaching to computer programming.

Tybalt said:

... there is no way you can look into the future and predict in detail what´ll happen over the next 10 years. How do you account for / plan for set backs, acts of god, etc? How much room for error is there? ...

Really?  That is exactly what a world class gymnastics coach has to do on a regular basis.

Of course there are adjustments along the way, but the majority of the plan should remain intact if the coach involved is indeed truly world class.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

All short term goals are predicated upon what the ultimate long term goal is. Once an appropriate long term goal for that particular athlete's talents and desires has been selected, the various short term goals fall into place accordingly.
 

Coach,

Thanks for the answer.  So what I get from this is you have carefully considered the goal (i.e. US National Team Member), and from that clearly defined goal you were able to discern the clear direction to fill the days with meaningful activities that provide a straight line path to reach the goal that you have defined.  The goal was challenging so that would aid in the desire to make your work effective. 

So my clearly defined goal could be to conquer the foundation.  You have set a straight line course on how to do that.  So my daily and weekly goals would essentially be follow the course.  Do all foundation each week with movement and stretch series completed each week.  There may be need for other small goals depending on the situation.  But essentially that is what I am looking at. 

How does this look to you?  If I were one of your athletes where would you encourage improvement? 

Look forward to hearing your thoughts.

P.S.

Have you ever thought of allowing people to come and pay for a week of instruction from you?  I know you have seminars but I thought it would be very advantageous to spend a week just to get a taste of the excellence that you require. Just a thought.