Goals in sport. Do we demand too much of ourselves?

Here we leave you a very interesting article from CMD sport where Eneko Larumbe (doctor in Psychology who works as a sports psychologist and is a professor at the UEM) talks to us about the topic. According to Larumbe: "if you are clear about your goals, it is easier to maintain consistency, both in training and, later, in competition."

“We need to set goals because they are the basis of our motivation. Without them you cannot persevere or improve your athletic performance ”. This is how the doctor of psychology from the Uned, Eneko Larumbe, considers it. According to this professor at the Uned master's degree in physical activity and sport psychology, setting goals "is not only limited to the field of competition, but also, and especially, in our training sessions." Likewise, it is crucial that this definition of goals is the most realistic and consistent with our possibilities. And it is that demanding too much or too little can lead to frustrations that end up demotivating us and lead us to abandonment, first of training and, at the end, of the competition.

Is it positive to set goals?

Of course. They are very useful. They serve to help us know where we need to invest our efforts, time and resources. If you are clear about your goals, it is easier to maintain consistency, both in training and, later, in competition.

Can we all achieve the same goals?
No. And that aspect is essential to keep in mind when defining our own goals or horizons. Each athlete must adapt his objectives by virtue of his real level of practice and skill, his real physical possibilities, the moment in which he is. When determining our goals it is very important to adapt them to what we can really achieve. What some athletes can achieve, others do not have to achieve. Each one has its possibilities and both the goals and the process and the resources to be used to achieve them vary according to each athlete.

What should we take into account when defining them?
As I already pointed out, it is very important to be very objective and realistic with your own possibilities. It is very useful to set goals that are achievable but that, at the same time, constitute an appetizing challenge so that the athlete perceives progression but without getting burned or bored. Likewise, it is necessary that these goals be as concrete and specific to be able to organize and distribute them over time.
Can we define them alone or is it better that someone help us?
Having a coach always helps. That is well known by the teams and, obviously, the athletes of the level of individual disciplines. The advice of an expert will always help us to get more right, not only in the definition of the goals, but also in the processes and times to be set for their achievement. This expert will determine the real possibilities of each athlete by virtue of variables such as their complexion, level of initial technique and dexterity of execution and their potential for projection in the future, etc.
Goals should be set in the short, medium and long term?
Indeed. They should be set as if they were a path or a ladder, so that each goal is part of an overall process of progression. Your concatenation will help us to obtain satisfaction each time we reach a goal that will help us to motivate ourselves to face the next one with enthusiasm. In short, we must set ourselves goals in the short, medium and long term because if we only set them short we run the risk of stagnating and if we only determine them in the long term, we can end up feeling discouraged before a very distant horizon and abandon.
What problems can arise in setting goals?
The most important, impatience or haste. Goals are not achieved in the first minute. And that is an idea that, unfortunately, many beginners and even mid-level athletes fall into. This is because, as a general rule, there is a tendency to value results more than other variables related to sports performance and that is very dangerous for our balance between motivation and satisfaction and subsequent performance in competition. Ultimately, goals should be set that take into account both the performance itself and the skill, that is, that specifically consider the training phases and not only the results obtained in competitions.
However, for many athletes, precisely the competitions are the Great Goal ...
True, but the athlete must know what position each competition occupies in their particular set of goals. Most novice runners, for example, do not set a systematized schedule of goals and, because of this, it is just as dangerous not to meet expectations as it is to exceed them.
And so?
Not adequately setting goals does not help to mentally control and, therefore, to channel properly, adverse or favorable results. We go over or fall short of expectations in a competition due to lack of that channeling and systematization of our objectives and the consequences of this, often, can end up leading to frustration for the athlete.
Therefore, is it crucial to know what our chances really are in each competition?
Indeed. And that is derived from a meticulous comparative analysis between what we expected a priori to achieve at the end of each goal and what we have obtained by crossing it, as well as the causes of all this. And in this process, I insist, the help and advice of an expert can prevent us from getting carried away more by feelings than by reasons.