One of the most important strategies we are sharing in sport psychology is goal setting. I am sure, you’ve done that multiple times already. When I was working with an academy some years ago, we implemented a small team goal-setting workshop after every three matches. We did have a goal for the season and tried to work on that goal through focussing on the next three matches. We always defined how many points we wanted to win from the next matches and what was needed to achieve that.

Now, I recently came across an intervention study that did exactly that – but a lot better (and they even published it and share all their steps with the reader):

Deniz Durdubas and Ziya Koruc from Turkey presented their study on Effects of a multifaceted team goal-setting intervention for youth volleyball teams in the Journal of Applied Sport Psychology. In this article, the researchers showed that a specific team-goal was able to help the team increase their social and task cohesion as well as their collective efficacy. Initially, the authors took the three-stage team goal-setting program from Mark Eys and his colleagues (2006) (I LOVE theory-based interventions!) and added another individual goal-setting stage. By doing so, each individual team member was held accountable for reaching the defined team goals. What is really strinking about this article is, that the authors also share their complete workbook and program they used for working with the teams and athletes, so that it is really easy to use and conduct their intervention with your own teams!

Regarding the process, the teams started to set team goals and based on these goals individual goals for the season as well as the next three upcoming matches. After those three matches, the next meeting was held and team goals were reviewed and maybe re-adjusted, individual goals were reviewed and maybe re-adjusted until the end of the season. This clear focus and continuous process helped the teams develop positively in terms of cohesion and collective efficacy. All teams that were part of the control group did not improve or even decreased for all three variables.

Thus, team goal-setting as a constant part of a season for sports teams can have a significant impact on how the team functions – and this shows why the quote from Phil Jackson above is true and important for working with teams. We need to focus on both: the team and the individual. If we neglect one part, we neglect both.

Key take aways:

• Team goal-setting works.
• Team goal-setting PLUS individual goal-setting works (probably even better).
• Constant and continuous interventions are needed throughout the season.
• Get the complete workbook from the Journal of Applied Sport Psychology.