Figure Skating Goal Setting

Today I am going to help a reader by answering her question about goal setting. I am hoping readers will help and share their experience too.

Here is her question…

After reading Ice Mom’s post about Commandment 10, I have been thinking about goal setting in figure skating. My 10-year-old daughter’s skate coach has had her write down her goals as a figure skater. Well the only real point of reference she has would be the Olympics, so her big goal has been going to the Olympics.

My question is this, what are some practical short-term and long-term goals for a figure skater? My daughter’s goal for the summer months was to land her Axel and skate a clean program. She landed the Axel well this past week and back in August placed first at the competition which was her first USFSA competition ever. Not bad, huh? So what now? I know there are many jumps and spins and dance step sequences and some amazing combos that she will be dealing with in the years to come, that’s not really my question. I want to know how to help her set goals but keep dreaming (she could be the one to make it to the Olympics!).

Kids need to be able to have attainable goals, but also be able to dream. The goals you listed of landing an axel and skating a clean program are right on! It gives your skater something to work on in her daily practices. Skating a clean program is a great goal, with an instant feeling of accomplishment. If not met, it can be a goal for the next competition.

I give my students a sheet of paper with three different types of goals on them. Short-, medium- and long-term goals. I have them write three goals in each category. I think it’s important to have them choose multiple goals. If there is only one goal and it’s not met, they have two others.

I have one rule when I send the sheet home: the goals must be something you can control. I want to win my next competition is not acceptable because you can never control other people. There will always be someone better then you on a given day. A more practical goal would be I want to skate my personal best.

Today on Rinkformation:

IceMom.net: How Do You Cheer Up an Injured Figure Skater?

SynchroMom.net: How to Remember Necessary Items for a Synchronized Skating Competition

IceCoach.net: Figure Skating Goal Setting

The three goals I have them fill out are short-, medium- and long-term goals. Short term goals are goals they want to achieve in the next three or four months. These should be smaller goals like better posture, three more revolutions in my camel spin consistently, or to skate with determination at the upcoming competition.

Medium-term are goals they want to achieve in the next six months. These goals should be a little more difficult then the short-term goals, for instance landing my new jump, or learning a new spin.

Long-term goals are goals they want to achieve in the next year. These goals are things that will take time to work on, the next Moves in the Field or Freestyle test, having a consistent new double or triple jump, or building up my endurance to do back-to-back programs.

After each goal, I have my student answer the question “How are you going to meet this goal?” Answers can be as simple as run through my program more. This ensures the goal is attainable, at least in their eyes. If a skater can’t figure out how she will try to meet a goal, she should probably pick different goal.

The last question on my sheet is What do you want to get out of skating? This is a very broad question, but the answer tells me a lot about my student and what they want. It can give me a direction for coaching them in the future.

I give this to my skater as a homework assignment. Once I get it back, we review and talk about them. I make sure that the goals consist of actual skating and not something like “I remember my gloves” or ”I will try not to run over the troll skater.” I make sure they are pushing themselves but not to the point where no goals could be met.

Does your skater set goals? What is your process of setting goals? We all can get ideas and help each other so please share your experiences.

Do you have a question for Ice Coach? Do you have a suggestion for a blog post you’d like to see? E-mail me at IceCoach@IceCoach.net

Photo credits:
Sports_Hockey7.jpg: npclark2k on MorgueFile.com
On Target: viZZZual.com on Flickr.com Creative Commons
Targets at the Archery Park: M i x y / Mixy Lorenzo on Flickr.com Creative Commons
DSC_2667 – Skeeball: scott*eric / Scott S on Flickr.com Creative Commons

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[...] IceCoach.net: Figure Skating Goal Setting [...]
Erica

My first coach had the kids (and me lol!) fill out a sheet with their goal for the next year, and then short time goals, to be updated every three months. I’m big on goals, and generally have around half a dozen goals per month. Often it’s just to improve something, so not really measurable, but i can tell if my salchow is more consistent this month than last month, or if my coach notices an improvement. Now I’m done with the coach-tested levels, but not yet competing, my goals have to be something i can use my own judgement on, although i’m sure my coach would be happy to tell me if i had achieved it. Also, aiming to improve something is very achieveable. My salchow still isn’t particularly good, but it IS improving month by month!

As an adult, I do my goals on my own, rather than discussing them with my coach. Although I’m sure she’d be more than willing to help me with them if I asked her. Sometimes they change throughout the month, like last month I wanted to learn the pattern for level 1 elements, which didn’t happen due to rink closure, illness, and focusng on field moves. But that’s ok, i have other goals that i did work on.
Erica

Oh, I forgot, at work we have objectves which have to be SMART

S – sensible???
M – measurable
A – agreed
R – relevant?
T – ok I don’t know what T is for, guess I should pay more attention at work!
http://icemom.net Ice Mom

Do you think that parents should get involved in the goal-setting? Personally, I don’t look at Ice Girl’s goals. I don’t want her to feel like I’m pressuring her in any way.

However, I am curious about them…But, I won’t look at them because I believe in letting her have privacy and her own thoughts and all that nonsense. I wouldn’t mind if she showed them to me, though.
Anonymous

Thanks for sharing, good luck on that Salchow!
Anonymous

Yes of course, I think you should be able to discuss and share her goals. She can share the goals she wants, maybe not all of them and intentions. You may not know what all of them mean exactly but the you can support her when she achieves them. If she doesn’t want to share then well she won’t
anon

S = Specific
M = Measurable
A = Attainable
R = Realistic
T = Timely
Anonymous

My dd just turned ten yesterday and is going to her first regionals this weekend. She had little goals all summer– passing tests, landing doubles clean, having a clean program….I would help her think of them and set them each week. She had ALOT of work to do this summer (3 FS tests, and getting her jumps and spins up to be able to skate juvenile)- and it helped her alot to have little goals that she could accomplish in a short period of time.