Goal Setting - suggestions

Dave17,
I applaud you for your involvement in helping your son but I do see some flaws in your goal setting. Dave, I’m going to throw in my 2 cents and I may be off base...the way you are going about it may be perfect...I don’t really know... but here is the way I went about it. It worked for my son but may not work for others. I would throw out the strength goals. I would also discourage trying to max out in the weights.
The overall problem I see in working with an eighth grader are the actual goals being set. This process can be overwhelming and depressing. Take pop times for instance..with a 2.5 pop time you might want him to reach 1.9 but if you set that as a goal, it might take 3-4 years to accomplish or he may never accomplish that feat. While I am an advocate of goal setting...(I often tell my son “A goal without a plan is a dream”)...I also think long term, vague, or unobtainable goal can prove to be counterproductive. I believe your son’s goal at this point should simply be to make the HS team next year. Having been in your shoes I assume YOUR GOAL is to help your son improve and reach his goal of playing HS baseball and eventually college baseball. Your main obstacle will be motivating him. How do we go about that? You target the areas you want to help him on. You challenge him. You set mini-goals (challenges) that are spur of the moment. You devise little dad/son games. We would have contest to see who could squeeze the “grip springs” the most times...or...who could roll up the 5lb weight attached to the broomstick with a 3 ft. cord the most times...or...”if you can hit 50 whiffle balls without missing any, I’ll give you 50 cents”. If he doesn’t miss any then it automatically goes to double or nothing. You set up two cones in the yard...not 60yds...not 30 yds...you just set them up and get your stop watch. He’s not trying to run a sub 7 sixty, he’s challenging himself...he’s getting better. You may even fib a little on the times just to keep him motivated. Everything becomes a game. A lot of smiles and laughter takes place during these times. You’re molding two things in this process. A ball player and a friend. On the other hand, if you have to TELL your son he NEEDS to hit baseballs, something’s not working and you try another approach.
Best of luck,
Fungo

Thanks FUNGO, what you describe is what we have been doing - I guess what I'm looking for is to have him be at least average in the areas I mentioned - I know his baseball skills will get him noticed positively - just didn't want other areas to be over looked or perceived negatively.

quote:

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A lot of smiles and laughter takes place during these times. You’re molding two things in this process. A ball player and a friend.

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As always, a great post Fungo. This is great advise...

I'm going birdhunting tomorrow morning with my best friend. The "friend part" is the "best part".

Sorry Dave17, sometimes Fungo's posts get me misty!

Dave,
I can remember some discussions we had just before he entered high school. Seriously...I remember he asked how hard he need to throw. I told him I didn't really know but one mile an hour faster than the other players should be good enough. "How far do I need to hit a baseball to play HS baseball?" I told him I really didn't know but I assume one foot farther than everyone else would be OK. He never asked about running.
Fungo

Agree with Fungo,

Some goals like running are suited to be easily measured to determine progress and other things cannot such as setting a goal of playing D1 baseball or making the high school team. To attempt to reach that type of goal or objective requires a plan.

As far as setting goals that can be measured, because these goals are usually personal in nature it may require the person to establish a baseline value and then use that number to measure progress.

A typical example for baseball players is the 60-yard dash. While it shouldn’t be discouraged for a young player to set a goal of running a 6.6, it may be more helpful in the near future to find out what he runs it in now and come up with a plan to knock off a .5 or less at a time.

I like what Fungo said about making up games and challenges. My 6 year old won’t go to the mail box and get me the Sunday paper unless I time him to see if he can beat his time from the week before. And like Fungo, I have also been known to fib a little on the stopwatch time.

For young athletes hoping to play at a high level, personal goals and games are just a way to measure progress and are pieces of an overall plan. More importantly is having a plan and working it.

#1 8th grade goal Have Fun

#2 8th grade goal Give 100% at all times

#3 8th grade goal watch, learn, listen

#4 8th grade goal Have Fun

I also like fungos ideas. Sometimes the 8th grade body and mind is not ready for physical goals. I really like the proactive approach, but goals are easily set by an adult but sometimes hard for a kid to comprehend.

Dave-
Glad you are involved, but I have one question: What are your SON'S goals? It is his career we are talking about, so I just want to know how involved he is in the process.
I don't want you to take this the wrong way...instead, I hope some parents will read this and understand the importance of letting the kid play for HIS sake, not the ego of the parents.
I have read your posts in the past and I assume that you are doing all this for the right reasons....