Effective goal setting for athletes and coaches (with free template)

Nearly every athlete plays their sport for the same reason: to be a champion at the end of the season.

It's the ultimate goal shared by athletes of every level, in every sport. But having a goal and creating the processes necessary to achieve it, are what sets athletes apart and why some teams come close every year-while others watch from the outside and wonder, "why not us?"

In this article I will give you a clear roadmap to the end result you're looking for by having both long-term and short-term goals, how to easily track your progress, and some key elements to effective goal setting to help you pour your effort into the things that actually matter and are fully in your control.

You'll also find a useful goal setting template PDF at the end, where I've included examples of how to fill it out so that you can start working on your action plan to your individual goals, today.

Setting Short-Term and Long-Term Goals:
Both are necessary for an athlete to find success.

Your long-term goal is the main goal you're trying to achieve.

Short-term goals are smaller, attainable goals that you work on every day, week, and month in order to hit that end result.

Consider your team's goal of winning a championship as the final destination (long-term) and the way you get there to be your processes or short-term goals.

You know in order to make the full trip you will need to stop at the gas station, eat and sleep everyday, and follow any detours that come your way. But as long as you keep doing each of those things, you'll eventually get to where you want to go.

It's the same with setting your goals!

Track Your Progress:

In any aspect of life, you don't know where your strengths or weaknesses are unless you reflect and track how you're doing.

In this goal setting template, I've created a simple way for athletes and coaches to get clear on their goals and a fool-proof way to track progress in a month-to-month time frame.

This free template outlines how to find your ultimate goal, how to break it down into smaller processes, and examples of action steps to break it down even more to small, measurable and attainable segments.

At the end of each week you'll also track your progress by identifying what you noticed, what needs more focus, and what you intend to do moving forward.

Key Elements:

One of the most important keys to effective goal setting for athletes is to remember that they need to be flexible. You may hit some road blocks that life throws your way that slows down your progress,but when you are flexible you can adjust them to your current situation and then re-adjust as needed.

Another way to ensure progress and success is by making sure your action plan is easily attainable, but in an effective way.

We want to make sure our daily personal goals are things we can actually do, but not to the point where we are simply only checking boxes for the sake of checking them.

Simply saying, "I'll show up to practice" is not as effective as saying, "I will be prepared before practice and compete at my best throughout each drill." All athletes are expected to show up to practice- it's how you perform while you're there that dictates your outcomes.



As athletes and coaches, it's always important to make sure the goals of the team are clear, but it's more important to make sure each individual is doing their part to ensure success as a whole. Share this free template with your team or athletes and start working on actionable steps towards your best season yet!


Kristin Tullo is a certified strength and conditioning and sports psychology coach that has been working with athletes for ten years. Using her background in Social Work and former athletic career, she now helps athletes maximize their athletic potential through mental and physical strength.
Read more about her mindset program, “Think Strong, Play Strong.”