Special O Olympics T Table Tennis Coaching Guide Planning a Table T Tennis Training & Competition Season Goals and Object a tives ging goals for each athlete are importa to the mo r e ant otivation of th athlete. Go he oals Realistic, yet challeng h he b a tion plans. establish and drive th action of both training and competit Goal Se etting Setting goals is a joint effort with the athlete and coach and should be u g a d used to establish the athle ete's training and competit tion plan. Accomplishing goals during practice sess sions in settin similar to the ngs ment will inst confidence in the athle till e ete. Confiden helps mak sport parti nce ke icipation competition environm i m fun and is critical to the athlete's motivation. The main features of goal setting include: n Stepping stone to success es Sh hort term and long term goals d Ac cceptance by the athlete Va ariations in di ifficulty (easily attainable to challengin ng) Go measurem oal ment s e b goals. Howev do ver, Athletes may be more motivated by accomplishing short te rm goals than long term g not be af fraid to challe enge athletes and to inclu them in th goal settin process. A s ude ng Awareness of why the he athlete is participatin is importan when setting goals. For example, ask the athlete, "What is you focus ng nt r ur t on?" for this training sessio ation and goa setting: rticipation fac ctors that may influence a thlete motiva al There are several par Ag appropriat ge teness Ab bility level Re eadiness level At thlete perform mance Fa amily influenc ce Pe influence eer At thlete prefere ence As a coac you can en ch, nhance athlete motivation by: n Pr roviding more time and attention to an athlete whe he/she is having difficul learning a skill e n en lty Re ewarding sma gains all De eveloping add ditional meas sures of achie evement othe than winning er Sh howing your athletes that they are important to you and that you are proud o them a u of Fil lling your ath hletes with se elf-worth Special Oly ympics Table Tennis Coaching Guide - July 2014 G 4 3