SMART Racquetball Goals
...Gordon Henry, Ph.D.
While there is general agreement among sports psychologists that goal setting is an effective means of maximizing athletic performance, the particular characteristics of the best kinds of goals is still hotly debated. In fact, research on effective goal-setting constitutes one of the most prolific research areas in all of psychology, in general, and sports psychology in particular. One set of findings regarding effective goals, however, has begun to be fairly widely accepted among sports psychologists, coaches, and other experts in athletic performance as necessary for maximizing the power
of goals.
The common acronym used to denote this set of findings is “SMART” goals. Each of the letters in this acronym represents a goal parameter that, when instituted, has been shown to consistently increase the influence that the goal has on performance and, subsequently, to consistently increase the level of athletic performance identified in the goal. Before introducing the SMART characteristics, however, I would note one overarching idea that binds the SMART characteristics together.
That idea lies in the power of consequences. Note that goal setting occurs prior to a particular instance of athletic performance. That is, an athlete first sets a goal for her or his performance, then undertakes actions designed to meet that goal. This is important to note, because we know what happens to that performance when the goal is reached, but the athlete’s life doesn’t turn out any better in any way. The next time a goal is set, it is much less likely to encourage high levels of performance. We see this phenomenon in athletic settings all the time. For example, what happens to a racquetball player who sets a goal of 10 hours of drill practice each week, accomplishes that goal for a few weeks, but really can’t detect any change in his game and, further, does not improve his standing in the current league and fails to beat anyone he’s consistently lost to prior to the goal achievement. In fact, no one even notices that the player is hitting more powerfully or consistently. What would you suspect would happen when a friend of this player suggests a goal of drilling 15 hours each week? That’s right…the player is much less likely to achieve this new goal. For him, goals have begun to lose their power to encourage behavior, because goal achievement was not followed by any apparent evidence of success. The power of the SMART characteristics lies in their ability to help ensure that goal attainment is followed by some additional signs of improvement. Keep this in mind when reading about SMART goals.
The “S” stands for Specific goals. Research and practical experience show that specific goals are much more effective in prompting performance improvements than general goals such as, “Do your best,” or, “Improve your serve.” An example of a much more specific goal would be, “Hit 6 of 10 drive serves so that they land within one foot of the short line (but over it), bounce twice before contacting the back wall, and do not contact the side wall.” Whether this is a worthy goal may be argued, but you can’t argue with its specificity. Note that, in this instance, there would be no doubt about whether the player had reached her goal, while there may certainly be doubt among observers, and maybe even within the player herself, of whether, after a practice session, her “serve had improved.” This makes it more likely that the player herself, or others, will say, “Good work,” or otherwise be able to positively comment on her improvement.
Making a goal Measurable (the “M” in SMART) also has this result. How, exactly, would we measure whether a player’s serves (or ceiling shots, or backhand pinches, etc.) have improved? Basically, as in the “S” example, you have to find a way to quantify the goal. In some way, you must be able to “count,” the actions targeted in a goal to maximize the probability that those actions occur. Again, this quantifiable nature of the goal’s target, and probably the ability to easily show someone else your numerical improvement, makes it much more likely that you and everyone else will know when the goal has been reached and some sort of reward should be delivered.
You’ll never gain access to those rewards, however, if your goals aren’t Attainable (the “A”). In our serving example, assume the player’s current level of performance is only to hit 1 of 10 serves in the manner described. It’s clear that a goal of 6 of 10 is pretty unrealistic, will probably only result in frustration, and certainly won’t ensure that the rewards typically following goal attainment will be forthcoming. Rather, challenging but realistic goals should be set. One nice rule of thumb in this regard is to set a goal somewhere above your average performance (which requires a good behavior measurement system) but somewhat below the best instance of that performance you’ve ever achieved. Well, if we’ve already used one of the letters to stand for attainable, realistic goals, what’s the “R” for?
In this case, it stands for Relevant. We’ve probably all made the mistake of setting irrelevant goals at some time. Think of the boss who wants all employees at their desks at 8:00 a.m. sharp, with attire conforming to the corporate dress policy. These goals may certainly be specific, measurable, and attainable, but their accomplishment may not result in any improvement in corporate performance. One famous psychologist when addressing the irrelevance of these types of goals, said, “They’re paying for busyness rather than business.” The trick here is to set racquetball goals that, when accomplished, result in real improvement in your game that, in turn, result in real improvement in your league standing, national ranking, or some other measure of racquetball results. This is one of the many areas in which a good coach can help a player. Because of their experience, a good coach can target specific improvements that, when achieved, make a real difference in your game during match play. Returning to our serving example, I’d guess that improving one’s serve is definitely relevant for the games of most players. Such a large percentage of points are won on serve or service return, especially at higher levels of play, that any improvement in one’s service game should definitely pay off in match results. For most of us, achieving better results is the ultimate payoff for making improvements in our game, but it’s only possible if your goals are relevant to those results.
The final letter needed to set effective goals is “T” which stands for Time-bound. To see real improvement, we need to set deadlines by which our goals will be attained. With no time limit on goal attainment, other priorities and "emergencies" tend to intrude on the time we need to accomplish our goals. In addition, having a time limit may help us in revising our goals if they aren't working. In effect, we're setting a deadline on which we'll revisit our goals and our accomplishments and either provide some payoff for goal attainment or revise our goals as needed. Setting deadlines for goal accomplishment also allows us to engineer subgoals so that they "add up" to larger goals over time. This time-specific nature of goals is one of the essential elements in the approach to training known as periodization.
Hopefully, you've gleaned from this discussion that goals have no mystical, magical quality. Goals don't emit invisible rays that automatically enhance goal attainment and performance improvements. Neither are we genetically programmed to respond positively to goals. It takes purposeful engineering of specific characteristics to make goals successful. Most importantly, remember that it is the improvements in an area of life, in this case racquetball prowess, resulting from goal attainment that really result in goals being such powerful performance enhancers. You'll now be on the road to racquetball improvement because your goals will be SMARTer than your opponents.
