NEW
coaching course certification now available!
NCCP Super Clinic Badminton - Community Course Will run Sunday September 18, 2011 from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM “Participants of all ages are encouraged to participate in the sport and are introduced to the sports basics in a fun, safe and self-esteem building environment regardless of their ability''. The Badminton NCCP course will cost $130.00.
(continued from page 5) There are 3 definitions to consider when looking at goal-setting: • Outcome Goals Athletic performance in comparison to other athletes • Performance Goals Athletic performance independent of others • Process Goals How an athlete achieves specific goals Process goals can consist of: technical goals, tactical goals, physiological goals and psychological goals. Another way to look at personal goals might be to list current practices (e.g. physical or technical drills) and add the phrase “so that”… to the end. For example: I will complete my circuit training three time per week …so that… I can reduce the training time by 10% by the end of the month. If every “so that” could be followed by a goal or stepping stone then your everyday behavior could be in tune with your goals. UNREALISTICALLY HIGH GOALS At Toronto there have been student athletes who have set goals that are too high and that may be a result of one or more factors.
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• Advice from other people. Other people (parents, fellow athletes, coaches, spectators) may set unrealistic goals for an athlete based on what they want for the athlete and not what the athlete actually wants for himself/herself. Within the Blues programme every attempt is made to allow the individual athlete set their own goals and then to assist in their attainment at our practice sessions and tournament structure.
• Insufficient information. Often student athletes arrive at university and are not aware of the various standards of performance within our sport and then set goals that will not be achievable. This behavior is not just an element of our Blues recruits but is also common within the badminton community as there is really no understanding of how the performance an elite player like Michelle Li (Blues 2009) differs from the average provincial competitive player. • Always expecting best performance. Many of our university student athletes base their goal-setting on their best-ever performance no matter how long ago that was. That ignores the backsliding that can happen for various reasons and ignores the factors that helped you achieve your best performance in the past. It is better to set goals to match your “average” performance and thus achieve consistency. GOALS THAT ARE TOO LOW Goals may be set too low as well for several reasons, including: • Fear of failure. If an athlete is frightened by the concept of failure on the court during competition, then they may not take the risks needed for optimum performance. As goal setting principles are applied to performance and the achievement of personal goals then self-confidence should increase and allows for bigger risk-taking. Know that failure is a positive thing - the most important factor in becoming a winner on court may be the losses that are needed to get there as an athlete discovers areas that need to be improved in order to get better outcomes.
• Taking it too easy. It is easy to take the reasons for not setting goals too high as an excuse to set them too low – if an athlete is not prepared to stretch themself and to work hard then it is extremely unlikely that they will achieve anything of real worth. THE LINK BETWEEN OUA/OCAA AND BADMINTON ONTARIO Now that we know that we have lots of student athletes competing on university/college teams how could we create a continuing link between those athletes and Badminton Ontario? In the past there has been relatively low interest in a provincial U23 championship and the major reason is that for that group of athletes the OUA and OCAA league and championships are the focus and provide motivation to train and perform for their school. There are some who still compete at OBA tournaments but for the majority they are not willing to devote entire weekends to competitions; further they come to love the tournaments in both OUA and OCAA and the shared team goals that have taken the place of individual one as in junior. I think perhaps the best way to grow the link between graduates of the OBA junior programme and Badminton Ontario to a new link between OUA/ OCAA athletes and Badminton Ontario would be to create separate player rankings within Badminton Ontario based on OUA results and another ranking based on OCAA results – these rankings would create a system that includes 18 to 23 year olds in large numbers within our provincial organization during their “away” years and would indirectly create another motivation for players and another tool that could be useful in the goal-setting process. An interesting concept indeed….will the connection be made?