SMART Goals for Soccer Players: A Season Plan Kids Can Keep
The more precisely an adult writes a kid’s goal, the less it belongs to the kid. Here’s what the research says about SMART goals, and a simpler plan: one goal every five weeks, in your kid’s own words.
SMART is the most famous goal recipe in youth sports. When researchers took a hard look at it, they found it isn’t based on scientific theory, and for less active adults a looser goal sometimes worked better.
Five letters with no lab behind them
Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Time-bound. If your kid’s team has ever handed out a goal sheet, it probably used some version of those five words.
In 2022, a group of ten sport and exercise researchers published a review of the SMART acronym as a tool for getting people active. Their conclusions were blunt. According to the review, SMART is not based on scientific theory, is not consistent with the evidence, ignores what type of goal is being set, has criteria that overlap, and carries a risk of potentially harmful effects.[1]
That review covers physical activity in general, and its criticism is aimed at the acronym itself. The research on goals themselves is older, and it’s more useful for a soccer family.
Medium-hard beat very hard
In 1995, two researchers at Arizona State University pooled 36 studies of goal setting in sport and exercise. Overall, setting goals improved performance by about a third of a standard deviation. That is a real effect, and a modest one.[2]
For anyone setting goals for soccer players, the details matter more than the average. The biggest effects came with moderate goals, and with a mix of short-term and long-term goals.[2]
For a kid, “moderate” is the tricky part. Too easy, and the goal means nothing. Too hard, and it becomes a weekly reminder of what they can’t do yet. And a mix of short-term and long-term goals looks a lot like one season split into smaller pieces.
The goal that said “see how well you can do”
A newer line of research asked a simple question. What if the goal isn’t specific at all?
In one experiment, 78 adults with an average age of about 56 walked for six minutes under different instructions. One group got a SMART goal. Another got an open goal, such as “see how well you can do.” A third was told to do their best, and a control group walked at their normal pace.[3]
Every kind of goal beat walking without one. But the SMART group reported more pressure and tension. The open-goal group rated their own performance higher and was more interested in doing the session again.[3]
A follow-up study split 36 adults into two groups: people who were already active and people who weren’t getting enough exercise. The less active group walked farther with an open goal. The active group walked farther with a SMART goal.[4]
That’s the paradox. Precision seemed to help the people who were already rolling, while an open goal seemed to suit the people who were just getting started.
Three rules a nine-year-old can check
None of these studies tested kids or soccer. So here is a shorter test, the one the Soccer Training Journal uses. Before players sign the goal for each phase, they check it against three rules: clear, theirs, realistic.
- Clear. Your kid can tell you what it looks like on the field. “Get better” doesn’t pass. “Use my left foot in every practice” does.
- Theirs. They chose it and they wrote it. If you can hear your own voice in the sentence, hand the pencil back.
- Realistic. Hard enough to need five weeks, easy enough to finish. That’s the moderate zone from the 1995 analysis.[2]
Notice what’s missing: a number on everything. For a player in a first season, an open goal like “see how many times I can win the ball back” may fit better than a target of exactly five. For a player who already tracks their stats, a number may push harder. That’s our reading of the walking studies.[3][4] Nobody has tested it with kids yet.
One goal every five weeks
The journal splits the season into seven phases of five weeks, each built around a soccer power. Here is one way to use them, with one goal per phase. The examples are ours, written the way a player might say them.
| Phase | Open goal (newer players) | Specific goal (experienced players) |
|---|---|---|
| Bravery | “See how often I can ask for the ball.” | “Ask for the ball at least three times every game.” |
| Passion | “Find one new move I love and practice it.” | “Practice the step-over for ten minutes, three days a week.” |
| Confidence | “Shoot whenever I have a clear chance.” | “Take at least two shots in every game.” |
| Teamwork | “See how many teammates I can talk to on the field.” | “Say a teammate’s name before every pass I make.” |
| Mental Strength | “Find a reset I like after a mistake.” | “Use my reset within five seconds of every mistake.” |
| Ambition | “See how far I can get with juggling.” | “Beat my juggling record by ten touches.” |
| Pride | “Fill in every log in this phase.” | “Write one thing I’m proud of after every game.” |
Five weeks is long enough to see a change and short enough that a missed goal doesn’t cost the whole season. At the end of each phase, the journal asks “How did the goal go?” before the next one starts. A goal that didn’t work still helps. It tells your kid what to try next.
A few walking studies are not a coaching manual
How strong is this evidence? Mixed. The 1995 analysis [2] pooled 36 studies and is the strongest source here, but it is three decades old and covers sport and exercise in general. The two walking experiments [3][4] are small, used adults and measured a six-minute walk. The 2022 review [1] is a critique and adds no new experiment. We found no trial that compares SMART and open goals in youth soccer. The phase-by-phase examples are our suggestions. Treat them as a starting point, and let your kid’s results correct them.
The small experiment worth running tonight
You don’t have to wait for a new season. Ask one question at dinner: “What’s one thing you’d like to be better at in five weeks?”
- Let them answer in their own words, and write it down exactly as they say it.
- Run the three checks together. Is it clear? Is it yours? Is it realistic? Change only what fails.
- Pick open or specific. If the skill is new to them, start with “see how…”. If they already keep track of it, add a number.
- Have them sign it. The journal asks players to sign each goal to make it official, and it’s a small ceremony that makes the goal theirs.
- Mark a day five weeks from now on the calendar. On that day, ask: “How did the goal go?”
If you have Soccer Training Journal, this is the goal page of the first phase, and because the weeks are numbered rather than dated, November is a fine time to start. If you don’t, a sticky note on the fridge will do for tonight.
The goal is the door. Five weeks from now, the conversation about how it went is the part your kid will remember.
References
- Swann, C., Jackman, P. C., Lawrence, A., Hawkins, R. M., Goddard, S. G., Williamson, O., Schweickle, M. J., Vella, S. A., Rosenbaum, S., & Ekkekakis, P. (2023). The (over)use of SMART goals for physical activity promotion: A narrative review and critique. Health Psychology Review, 17(2), 211–226 (published online January 2022). doi.org/10.1080/17437199.2021.2023608 · Abstract: PubMed 35094640.
- Kyllo, L. B., & Landers, D. M. (1995). Goal setting in sport and exercise: A research synthesis to resolve the controversy. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 17(2), 117–137. doi.org/10.1123/jsep.17.2.117
- Swann, C., Hooper, A., Schweickle, M. J., Peoples, G. E., Mullan, J., Hutto, D. D., Allen, M. S., & Vella, S. A. (2020). Comparing the effects of goal types in a walking session with healthy adults: Preliminary evidence for open goals in physical activity. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 47, 101475. doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2019.01.003
- Hawkins, R. M., Crust, L., Swann, C., & Jackman, P. C. (2020). The effects of goal types on psychological outcomes in active and insufficiently active adults in a walking task: Further evidence for open goals. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 48, 101661. doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2020.101661