Goal Setting and SMART Targets
Why Goal Setting Matters in Sport
Elite and recreational athletes alike use goal setting to direct effort, maintain motivation and track progress. Without a clearly defined target, training can feel purposeless — athletes may work hard without knowing what they are working towards. Goal setting provides a focus, helps athletes manage anxiety before competition, and gives coaches a framework for structuring training sessions. Psychologists working with performers at all levels recognise two fundamentally different types of goal: performance goals and outcome goals.
Performance Goals
A performance goal focuses on what the individual does, measured against their own previous best. “Run 400 m in under 55 seconds”, “serve 80% of first serves in during my next match” or “complete a set of 12 pull-ups by the end of the month” are all performance goals. Crucially, the performer can influence these outcomes directly through their own effort and technique — no one else’s performance can stop them achieving a personal best. This makes performance goals particularly valuable for motivation: even if you lose the match, you may still have achieved your performance goal, leaving you with a sense of progress and self-efficacy. Research and sporting practice consistently show that performance goals are the more effective type for long-term development.
Outcome Goals
An outcome goal focuses on the result of competition — winning the game, finishing first, or topping the league. The difficulty with outcome goals is that they depend on factors outside the athlete’s control. A club runner may achieve a personal best in a 10 km race and still finish last in a strong field. If winning was the only goal, that race feels like a failure — despite excellent individual performance. For beginners in particular, outcome goals can be demotivating: if winning is unrealistic against more experienced opponents, repeated “failure” can reduce confidence and participation. The spec makes it clear that outcome goals are generally better avoided — or used only alongside performance goals — because they rely on factors the performer cannot control.
Outcome goals are not entirely without value — for highly experienced performers competing at the top of their sport, knowing that the target is to win a final can sharpen focus and intensity. The key is that outcome goals work best when combined with specific performance goals. An elite rower might set an outcome goal (win the national championship) alongside several performance goals (reduce 2,000 m split time to 6:08; improve catch angle consistency). The performance goals provide a daily, controllable target; the outcome goal provides motivating context. For most students and developing performers, however, performance goals should dominate the plan, with outcome goals treated as a background aspiration rather than the main measure of success.
Outcome goals rely on factors outside the performer’s control — the quality of opponents, referee decisions, weather. Beginners should avoid them because: winning may be unrealistic against experienced opponents; repeated “failure” can demotivate; and they shift focus away from technique development onto the scoreboard.
SMART Targets
A goal is only useful if it is well-constructed. The SMART framework provides a checklist for turning vague intentions into actionable targets. SMART stands for: Specific, Measurable, Accepted, Realistic and Time-bound. Note that the AQA specification uses “accepted” — not “achievable” — as the A in SMART.
Breaking Down SMART
Specific: the target must state clearly what is to be achieved. “Get better at swimming” is not specific. “Reduce my 100 m freestyle time from 75 seconds to 70 seconds” is specific. A specific goal focuses training effort on the right area.
Measurable: progress must be trackable using objective data. Times, distances, repetition counts, percentage success rates and scores all provide measurable evidence of progress. Without a measurable element, the performer cannot tell whether they are improving.
Accepted: the target must be agreed upon and “bought into” by both the performer and their coach or support team. If a coach sets a goal without the athlete’s input, the athlete is less likely to be committed to it. When the goal is agreed together, both parties take ownership and work cooperatively toward it.
Realistic: the goal must be achievable given the performer’s current level. Setting a goal that is too easy provides no challenge and little sense of achievement when reached. Setting a goal that is impossible to reach leads to repeated failure and loss of motivation. A realistic goal is stretching but attainable — just beyond what the performer is currently capable of.
Time-bound: every SMART goal needs a deadline. “Improve my press-up maximum to 30 by the end of this half-term” has a time-bound element; “improve my press-ups eventually” does not. A deadline creates urgency, helps coaches plan progressive overload across a training programme, and provides a natural review point.
SMART = Specific, Measurable, Accepted (agreed with coach), Realistic (challenging but achievable), Time-bound (has a deadline). AQA uses “Accepted” — not “Achievable” — as the A. Using “achievable” may still earn the mark in context, but learn the correct term to be safe.
Imagine a 15-year-old club midfielder whose conversion rate from shooting practice is 40%. A SMART target might be:
“Increase my scoring conversion rate in shooting practice sessions from 40% to 55% (specific, measurable) over the next six weeks of training (time-bound). My coach and I have agreed this is achievable if I focus on my first touch before shooting and stay for 30 extra minutes of practice each Friday (realistic, accepted).”
Notice that this is a performance goal (based on the player’s own conversion rate, not on match results), and every element of SMART is present. The accepted element is demonstrated by the coach’s involvement in setting and agreeing to the plan.