Setting goals for competition

[FancyFeet]

As I ponder possible goals for my next competition, I find myself wondering about the approach taken by others. Do you set specific goals for each competition you attend? How do you decide? What do you do with them? Do you think they help?

(Fully intending to share my approach and thoughts here, but don't want to sway the conversation too much from the outset, so will hold off for a bit

 

[fascination]

I try to have a hope for the judged result, but a more imperative goal that is aside from that...so, for instance, when I head out for the first time with the new pro, my hope will be to place in the majority of my heats....but my goal will be to dance with the lightest possible connection and yet to be very obviously dancing WITH him, allowing him to also dance and not caretake....accomplishing a decent amount of that a decent amount of the time on the first time out, and add; recovering from what I am certain will be several brain farts over new material...if most of that is able to happen I will endeavor to be okay with myself.....

and it has always been my practice to have a primary goal aside from the results but also a secondary hope that executing that will yield a reasonable result...but I do both because I am cognizant of the fact that I am only in control of the first

 

[debmc]

I agree! When I first started dancing my goals were very placement oriented. I realized, after talking with some wise people, that I had to detach from placement oriented goals and switch to specific dance oriented ones. I will have a specific dance related objective for each comp that is my primary goal. It still is nice to place well and that has always been my hope, but not my goal of the competition. Ironically since switching my goal focus, my placements have actually improved too!

 

[mindputtee]

I set goals competition by competition. For MAC this past weekend I had a goal for myself, and then a goal for placements. My personal goal was to improve my cardio/endurance/stamina leading up to the competition so that wouldn't be a major factor in my performance. I accomplished that goal and am very pleased with that. My external goal was to make the semi-final in novice standard and the quarter in prechamp smooth and standard. Having both lets me feel a sense of individual progress and then places me in the world of ballroom as a whole.

 

[s2k]

We have year-long goals and quarterly goals, in addition to specific goals heading into each comp. At the end of each term, we take notes, discuss what worked and what didn't, and apply those ideas to whatever the next set of goals are - do we need to change revise any? Delete or add any?

A long term goal is USAD Nationals, most likely next year. We don't have a mambo yet.

Two of our quarterly goals for this first quarter are to add more individual practice to our schedules and to have a new rumba ready for mid-march. We're aware that we may or may not be ready by the end of the quarter, but we've found when we give ourselves deadlines, we're likely to work equally hard throughout the term rather than have the false sense of "WHEEE! We have all the TIME in the WORLD!" that often comes with a competition date - WHAM! Suddenly the comp is two weeks away and stamina is the pits. Having quarterly goals means that of the three remaining quarters, one of them will need to be "get a mambo" so that we can meet our long-term goal.

A specific goal for this last comp was my waiting for my partner's lead in a specific portion of our bolero based on our coach's input just last week. Instead of going with him, I needed to wait for him to take me, and then remain behind him rather than following closely next to him. We know it's dicey to make changes so close to a comp, but we practiced enough and it seemed okay, so we figured, "If I follow I follow, and if I don't, there's next time." And based on the video, I met that goal! Cheeseburgers all around!

 

[danceronice]

Having enough money to go to any at all this year...

 

[Loki]

Given the subjectivity of judging, I'm less interested in specific placement than a trend toward improvement, in whatever area that might lie and however that might be measured.

Of course, a recall is always nice.

 

[JANATHOME]

Absolutely, I set goals but this could simply be the result of who
I am and how I operate in my professional life.(which, sigh, take the majority of my time and concentration) It would be pretty silly for me to attempt to "change my spots" because this is a hobby. The way we are wired spills over into all activities we do.

As far as placements, I don't set any goals because there are to many variables of which only a few I can control.... I think of placements as dreams, finals would be awesome, no call backs stings but I can recover from it in about a half hour or so...

I know what my shortcomings are, and what I want to improve not only from comp to comp but my progress in general... So my goal is specific to me. Upcoming comp I have my goal set, which by the way would of been the same goal is there was no competition upcoming, which if pulled off could result in better placements, but that is not the goal... Much deeper than a point in time placement......

 

[rels77]

I usually have a specific thing that I've been focusing on before the comp that I think about... "I'd like this round to be about pretty feet, etc."

My overall goal is usually to walk off the floor saying "I danced the best I could today." The rest is gravy.

However, I will always say my overall goal is to have an awesome time and kick some @$$. We do pay for this to be fun.

 

[middy]

Usually, my goals are to have fun, dance well, and/or place well. It's best if all three happen, but if one or two of those are accomplished, great. If you danced to the best of your ability, or at least 80-90% of that, then that's kind of all you can really give, right? So even if your placement is not so great, it's close to the best you can do, and there are so many external factors involved that there's no point overanalyzing them.

This past weekend at MAC, my goal was to get through quickstep and have enough endurance to get through my events. I've been working on emoting/performing more, so that was another goal. Also, to improve in callbacks/placements over last year and qualify for Nationals in at least a couple of events, and we managed that Everything beyond that was simply icing on the cake. Or some other terrible metaphor.

 

[latingal]

I always have one or two specific goals for a competition. I usually have a technical goal and a performance related goal. They are never about placements. Like fascination, sure it's a nice to have hope - but I certainly don't hang my happiness with my dancing on such a subjective and uncontrollable event.

Showing improvement or reaching my goals for a comp allows me to feel a sense of achievement in my ultimate goal of dancing well. If improvement didn't come through, it indicates and is the motivator for more work!

 

[FancyFeet]

I don't tend to set placement goals (though there are some placement hopes, naturally). I tend to set very specific goals for each comp - generally only a couple, max.

I'm thinking that for this next one, I'm going to have a couple of minor technique points to keep in mind, which I guess are goals... maintain the "new" shape, and really work my standing leg in VW... and then one bigger, overall goal... PERFORM (as in, showmanship, style, expression, etc.). I'll be running these by pro this week to see what he thinks.

 

[Wannabee]

As I begin to really prepare for my first silver comp, this question about what my goals are/should be has been at the forefront of my mind.

I saw my goals have a clear progression from comp to comp as I competed in bronze. In silver, I don't really have any idea what to expect. So, I guess for my first comp, I will have no defined goals, other than to enjoy sleeping in! It would be nice to feel that I danced somewhere near my abilities, and then I will just have to watch my comp video, see where I am, and go from there. That will help me define my goals for comp #2.