Performance vs Achievement Goals: Which one’s are better?
Understanding the importance of goal-setting can be a game-changer in supporting your child’s development. Goals are more than just milestones—they shape the way young athletes approach the game, manage pressure, and find joy in their journey. While achievement goals, like winning tournaments or earning a college scholarship, often dominate conversations, the true secret to fostering long-term success lies in focusing on performance goals. These goals help your child master their skills, build intrinsic motivation, and ensure steady progress, without the weight of constantly chasing results.
Let’s explore the difference between performance and achievement goals and why striking the right balance is essential for your child’s growth and enjoyment in tennis.
Performance Goals
Performance goals focus on a player’s mastery of the sport, and improving their skillset. These goals are measurable, and largely within a player’s control. The idea behind them is that if you improve your skillset as a player, you’ll have a direct impact on your results WITHOUT directly focusing on the result.
Examples:
Hitting 70% of first serves in during a match
Hitting less than 30 unforced errors in a match
Coming to the net at least 15 times a match
Achievement Goals
Achievement goals are result-based. The idea behind them is to create extra motivation within a player to help them work harder and focus more. If they succeed in hitting their achievement goals, they’re on the development path they’d like they’re tennis to be on, such as playing Division 1 college tennis or pro.
Examples:
Achieving a specific ranking, like top 10 in the country
Winning the state championship
Winning Orange Bowl
Key Differences
Performance goals focus on a player’s mastery of the sport, are measurable, and more under the player’s control. Achievement goals are measurable as well, but are result based instead of mastery of skills based, and are less under the player’s control. Things such as tough draws, bad playing conditions, injuries, or any outside factor that the player cannot fully control have a greater impact on reaching achievement goals.
Performance goals focus more on intrinsic motivation, as the player is competing more against themselves to accomplish these goals.
Achievement goals focus more on extrinsic motivation, as the player is competing more against their opponent to accomplish these goals.
Why Both Matter
Combining these goals provides balance:
Performance goals ensure steady improvement and skill mastery, which directly impacts a player’s results, without directly focusing on the results themselves.
Achievement goals create ambition, pushing players to reach for high-level successes and milestones, and on bad days can help a player push themselves to work harder.
The goals you emphasize with your child are the ones they’ll focus on the most.
If you constantly talk about rankings, scholarships, or big wins, it can unintentionally create pressure that makes tennis feel more like a job than a passion. Achievement goals, while exciting, should take a back seat. In fact, for many players, I suggest writing them down just once a year. For some kids, I suggest never writing them down.
Why? Because when kids fixate on achievement goals, they can lose sight of why they started playing tennis in the first place: for the love of the game. Every match becomes a referendum on their worth. Winning means they’re closer to their dream, while losing feels like failure. It creates an emotional rollercoaster that drains their joy and focus, often leading to burnout.
The greatest athletes don’t seek validation through results. They focus on one thing: getting better every day. That’s why performance goals are so powerful. They provide a clear path for improvement, helping players measure progress in ways they can control. If they’re hitting their performance goals—like improving their first-serve percentage or reducing unforced errors—they know the wins will eventually come.
And when they don’t hit those goals, even after a win, it’s a sign they still have work to do. That’s the mindset that creates consistent growth and long-term success. The focus stays on improving skills, not chasing trophies, because the results will follow when the process is right.
So, as a tennis parent, encourage your child to prioritize performance goals. Celebrate their progress, no matter the outcome of the match. Remind them that their worth isn’t tied to their ranking or results—it’s in their effort, attitude, and love for the game. That’s how you build not just a better tennis player, but a resilient and happy competitor.
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Webinar: Unlocking Hidden Potential in Junior Tennis
🎾 Date: Monday, January 13, 2025
🕡 Time: 8:15 PM EST
⏳ Length: 1 Hour (with a Live Q&A!)
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