Need Help Setting Goals for High School

[coach52]

I am a first year coach at a high school that never really set goals before, and I really want them to be very goal oriented this year. I never thought I would have difficulty putting goals together for them, but as I started to write them out, I struggled with what I wanted to say. Just a little bit of background, the team has been good in recent years, winning two sectionals of the last four, but they graduated 7 starting seniors last year, and we have zero seniors on the roster.

I want them to have very key and specific team goals (i.e., beat Westville, beat Hanover Central, win 20 games, win our conference tournament, win sectionals, win regionals, etc.). We have 27 games on our schedule this year, and the team last year went 19-7 and lost in regionals.

I also want there to key specific, individual team goals. Girls would get stickers for accomplishing each of these goals (i.e., get two hits in a game, steal two bases in a game, pitcher records the win in a game, 10 strikeouts in a game, etc.)

I was debating doing detailed/specific individual goals for girls as well, even though I have never done this before. (i.e., hit .300 in the season, win 12 games as a pitcher, steal 25 bases, etc.)

I would love some input from you folks and what you've done in the past or seen from other teams. Any advice about the number of team goals, individual goals, etc. would be great. I really want the team to have a very clear path for what they want to accomplish, but at the same time I don't want them to be overloaded. I would love short, medium, and long term goals (one of the ideas I had was to divide the season into 4 sections, and make sure that we are at this point after every section).

Again, any ideas or suggestions would be great!

 

[Carly]

Being goal oriented as a high school coach is great; just remember that the purpose of these goals should be to help your girls grow as PEOPLE as well as to become better softball players. The individual goals you set for them should be tailored to each kid, and they should have input as well. You can have a meeting with each player after tryouts and ask them individually what their goals are, and then have them achieve one individual goal that you've set and one they've set for themselves.

Goals like hitting .300 or getting a sticker every time you steal a base are not necessarily productive, because the fast runners and good hitters will achieve them and the slow runners/weaker hitters won't, and that's not helping the weaker players. A better goal would be something like if a player is exclusively a pull hitter, trying to get her to hit to the opposite field. If a pitcher is stronger hitting one side of the plate versus the other, try to get them equally strong, or if she has trouble with a particular opposing hitter in your division, come up with an attack plan to get her out. They can be behavioral goals too. If you've got a temperamental player, her goal could be to become more of a team leader and set an example for younger players. These are just random examples, but each player should have her own goal that is achievable for her and that makes her strive to better herself rather than compete with her teammates.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

Don't forget their grades. Maybe everyone make the honor roll?

 

[CoogansBluff]

I like what Carly said about goals being tailored to each player.

We've had a thread on helmet stickers, and I wonder if that doesn't promote individual accomplishments over team accomplishments. Not sure how I feel there. There are pros and cons.

The goals that you mentioned are largely those out of a player's control. Your batting average depends partly on the quality of the pitching (and the decisions of your official scorer). That doesn't mean it's not worthwhile to have a goal of hitting .400, per se. But I think I'd want to have goals that are in the player's full control. For example, in my head, I keep up with the number of good/bad/neutral decisions that my daughter makes during at-bats on whether to swing or take. If she sees 30 pitches and makes only 3 bad choices to swing or take, that's a good day regardless of how many hits she get. And it's all up to her.

Should you have goals that are in their control? While this is hard to chart for a whole team, I like to keep track of the number of good/bad decisions that players make on whether or not to swing.

I'm probably asking more questions than answering them. But the big question for me is how val

 

[GOINGDEEP]

Don't forget their grades. Maybe everyone make the honor roll?

We give a star on helmet for each A on 9 week report card.

 

[coach52]

We give a star on helmet for each A on 9 week report card.

What else do you give stars for?

I like the idea of the girls having a tangible goal that they can shoot for, like maybe 20 stolen bases. Obviously, this would have to be dictated on a girl by girl basis, but I think it gives the girls something to really strive to.

What about suggestions for team goals? What should team goals look like?

Less than two errors in a game every game?
Give up less than 6 runs in a game?

Specific examples would be great!

 

[GOINGDEEP]

What else do you give stars for?

I like the idea of the girls having a tangible goal that they can shoot for, like maybe 20 stolen bases. Obviously, this would have to be dictated on a girl by girl basis, but I think it gives the girls something to really strive to.

What about suggestions for team goals? What should team goals look like?

Less than two errors in a game every game?
Give up less than 6 runs in a game?

Specific examples would be great!

Well, we give the grade stars because that's a goal EVERYONE can and should be shooting for. Stars for anything else gets complicated. Plus you'd be surprised how much room grade stars on a helmet take up over 4 years.

Team "game" goals we do game by game. Like if we "calculate" we will need at least 5 runs for the win, and hold them to 3 runs, need 8 hits to get the 5 runs, and 3 walks, and we reach those goals.................instead of a star we cut practice by 30 mins or they don't have to run the full amount at the end of practice.................some type of reward teen girls can enjoy.

We post game by game printed stats in the dugout. Each player has their line, a yellow marker shows who's stats are improving and a red marker shows who's are declining. And it's possible to have red and yellow on same player. Let's say DD era went down ( yellow ) but her BA went down ( red ). It's a real quick and easy way for the players to visualize where they "stand".

Team goals are posted but NOT by individual players, again it's a little complex because the pendulum can swing positive or negative towards individual players not contributing to the goal. So let's say I want a .350 team BA then my spread sheet JUST keeps up with the BA for the whole team. If I want 50 stolen bases by the end of a season then my running spreadsheet only keeps up with the actual number of stolen bases, NOT who is stealing.

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Here is the theory, the game by game full "player" stats show immediate changes per individual and how they last performed. If your hitting a particular pitch well, then let's look for that pitch today to hit. Opposite if you didn't hit a pitch well. Pitchers same way, a pitch working good or one that wasn't working good.

Defense, let's say you rushed a few throws and made error(s), this next game lets plant a little better and not rush. If you went errorless, then keep doing what your doing.

Stealing, maybe you're getting a good jump and adjusted your slide a tad and it's successful. Maybe you're not getting a good jump, sliding late, poor base running.

Seems its easier for the girls to "think" what they did right or wrong just after the last game with the individual sheets.

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Team goal sheets only shows how we ( as a team ) are progressing towards the larger stated mark. ( remember no names, just stat goal and running total ) It "seems" to eliminate the ego trip over a season because it's really hard for the players to keep up with "who" is doing what. Unless you have a stud stealing 40 bases or hitting 20 HR's or K'ing 15 batters a game.

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Where all this comes into play is end of year awards. THIS is where the individual gets her prize. We give out individual awards for almost every stat. BA, ERA, RBI, BB, H, HR, OBP, FPC, etc. It's not much, just a $1 trophy or such but it's payment for hard work and recognition.

I hope this made sense.