Quick answer
Effective hockey goal setting uses three goal types together: outcome goals (what you want to achieve), performance goals (measurable benchmarks), and process goals (daily actions you control). For youth players, write one goal in each category, review monthly, and keep the weekly process action small enough to do even on tired days. A 12-year-old who sets "shoot 75 pucks every day before school" as a process goal will improve their shot more in one season than a player who just says "I want to score more."
Key takeaways
- Three goal types work as a system — outcome, performance, and process — not as three separate goals.
- Process goals are the only ones a player controls every day. They are the engine. Outcome goals are the destination.
- SMART criteria help adults structure goals; for kids under 10, one habit stated simply is enough.
- A monthly review cadence catches drift early — mid-February correction is worth more than an April regret.
- Missed goals are data, not failure. The right response is to adjust the weekly action, not drop the goal.
- Age shapes goal complexity: 8-year-olds need habits, 12-year-olds need measurable targets, 16-year-olds can manage full goal plans.
The three goal types every hockey player needs
Most players set outcome goals — "I want to make the A team" or "I want to score 15 goals" — and stop there. The problem is that outcome goals depend on factors outside your control: ice time decisions, teammate performance, opponent quality. When those factors go against you, the goal dies by November. The three-goal system fixes this by separating what you want from what you do.
| Goal Type | What It Describes | Who Controls It | Example (U13 forward) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Outcome goal | The end result you want | Partially — teammates, coaches, opponents also factor in | "Make the top line by February" |
| Performance goal | A measurable benchmark that signals progress | Mostly — your personal stats and test results | "Improve wrist shot accuracy to 14/20 on target drill" |
| Process goal | The daily or weekly action you commit to doing | Fully — you decide yes or no each day | "50 wrist shots on the pad before dinner, 5 days per week" |
The three types connect like a chain. The process goal (daily shots) drives the performance goal (shot accuracy improves). The performance goal moves you toward the outcome goal (top line). If you only track the outcome, you have no lever to pull when things stall.
Coach Erik's tip: When I sit down with a player in January, I ask them to write their outcome goal first — whatever excites them — and then work backward. "What would prove you're getting closer to that? What could you do today?" That chain-of-three takes about ten minutes and turns vague ambition into a daily habit.
SMART goals adapted for youth hockey
The SMART framework (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) works well for players 12 and older. Below is how to apply each criterion in hockey terms, with common age-based adjustments.
| SMART Criterion | Hockey Translation | Under 10 | Ages 10–13 | Ages 14+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Specific | Name the exact skill, not "be better" | "Stickhandle every day" | "Backhand pass to the corner boards" | "Quick-release wrist shot off a pass from the left" |
| Measurable | A number you can track — reps, hits out of 10, time | Not required yet | "10/15 passes hit the target" | "Under 1.2 seconds release time" |
| Achievable | Stretch but realistic in the time frame | Any daily habit counts | 20–30% improvement from current baseline | Based on testing data and coach input |
| Relevant | Tied to position, role, or team needs | Any skill is fine | Tied to what the coach is working on | Tied to tryout criteria or next level demands |
| Time-bound | A check-in date, not just end of season | One week at a time | Monthly check-ins | Monthly + mid-season benchmark test |
For a 9-year-old, the "goal" is simply: "I will stickhandle for 10 minutes after school every day." No baseline, no measurement. The habit of showing up daily, built at 8 or 9, is worth more than any specific skill target at that age. See also our New Year hockey development plan for the full season planning framework this goal-setting method connects to.
Goal-setting examples by age group
Here is how the three-goal system looks at different ages. These are examples, not templates — every player's starting point is different.
| Age Group | Outcome Goal | Performance Goal | Process Goal (weekly action) |
|---|---|---|---|
| U9 (ages 7–8) | "Have fun and score my first goal" | Not needed | "Stickhandle 10 min, 4 days/week" |
| U11 (ages 9–10) | "Help my team win more faceoffs" | "Win 5 of 10 faceoff reps at practice" | "Practice faceoff stance 5 min daily + 30 stickhandling reps" |
| U13 (ages 11–12) | "Make top line by February" | "Shot accuracy: 14/20 on corner drill" | "75 wrist shots on pad, 5 days/week before school" |
| U15 (ages 13–14) | "Play in the top division next season" | "Skating speed: top 3 in the team's conditioning skate" | "3 off-ice speed sessions + 100 shots per week" |
| U18 (ages 15–17) | "Attract attention from junior scouts" | "90 kg bench press + 95+ km/h shot speed" | "4 gym sessions + 150 daily shots, track both" |
The review cadence: monthly, not seasonal
Most players set goals in September or January and look at them again in April. That's a seven-month gap, which means months of drift go unnoticed. The players who improve fastest review monthly — on a fixed date, not "when I remember to."
A monthly review takes 10 minutes. Answer three questions: Did I do my process goal most weeks? Is my performance moving? Does my outcome goal still matter to me? The third question matters more than it sounds — sometimes the goal was right in January but the player's priorities have shifted, and it's better to rewrite the goal than to grind toward something you no longer care about.
Coach Erik's tip: I ask players to put a recurring reminder in their phone: first Sunday of each month, 20:00, "review your hockey goal." That's it. The structure isn't complicated — the hardest part is making it a non-negotiable 10 minutes. Players who do this consistently outpace the ones who don't, regardless of natural ability.
Dealing with missed goals and setbacks
Missing a week of process goals is normal. Missing three weeks in a row is a signal. Here is how to respond to both.
- Missed 1–2 weeks. No adjustment needed. Resume the habit without guilt. Research on habit formation consistently shows that occasional misses don't break long-term streaks — but guilt-quitting does.
- Missed 3+ consecutive weeks. The weekly action is probably too heavy. Cut it by 30–40%. A player doing 50 shots four days a week beats one who planned 150 shots but quit by week three.
- Performance goal not moving. Either the process isn't working (try a different drill or skill focus) or the timeline was too short (extend by 4–6 weeks before abandoning the goal).
- Injury or team disruption. Pause the goal clock, don't delete the goal. Restart with a reduced load for 2–3 weeks.
- Lost motivation. Reconnect the outcome goal to something the player genuinely cares about — not what the parent wants, not what they think scouts want. If a player doesn't care about the destination, the process won't hold.
Practical drills to match your goals
Goal setting is only as good as the training it drives. Here are practice methods matched to common hockey goal types. All off-ice drills work on a shooting pad (€49.76) or hard floor at home.
- Shot accuracy goal. Hang shooting targets (€33.16) in corners, call the corner before every rep, log hits out of 20. Track weekly average. Add a shot speed radar (€107.86) when accuracy exceeds 12/20 to add power as a second variable.
- Stickhandling goal. Use a stickhandling trainer (€41.46) for patterns, then remove it and do the same pattern heads-up. 5 minutes of pattern + 5 minutes heads-up daily is enough for clear improvement in 6 weeks.
- Conditioning goal. Three 8-minute sessions per week off-ice, mixing 30-second sprint intervals with 90-second recovery. Track how quickly heart rate drops in the recovery window — that number improves fast with consistency.
- Passing goal. Use an Extreme Rebounder (€66.36) for solo passing reps: 50 forehands, 50 backhands, 20 one-touch returns. Log how many come back clean.
The shooting targets, the stickhandling trainer and the rebounder are all Made in Europe. Better Hockey is a Swedish brand, and our gear is Swedish design tested to the highest durability standards. It is used by many well-known NHL players, including Swedish pros, who are among our ambassadors.
Common mistakes
- Setting only outcome goals. You can't control the scoreboard. Fix: write a process goal first and work forward to the outcome.
- Too many goals at once. Three goals in three categories is the maximum. Fix: cut to one per category and do those one things well.
- No measurement built in. "Be a better skater" is not a goal. Fix: "Skate the timing-drill route in under 14 seconds by March 1" is a goal.
- Never reviewing. Goals set and ignored don't improve players. Fix: calendar the first Sunday of each month for 10 minutes.
- Treating missed weeks as failure. One missed week is not a broken goal. Fix: resume without guilt, cut the weekly load only if missing becomes a pattern.
- Goals set by parents, not players. External goals collapse when intrinsic motivation runs low. Fix: the player writes the process goal in their own words, even at age 10.
FAQ
What is the difference between process and outcome goals in hockey?
An outcome goal describes a result — "score 20 goals." A process goal describes a daily action — "shoot 75 pucks on the pad every day." Process goals are fully in the player's control; outcome goals are not. Both are useful, but process goals drive the daily behaviour that moves the outcome.
How many hockey goals should a player set?
Three: one outcome goal, one performance goal, and one process goal. More than three splits focus. Players who chase four or five goals at once typically make marginal improvement on all of them instead of real improvement on one or two.
At what age should a hockey player start goal setting?
Any age, but the format should match the age. Under 10, a simple daily habit is the whole "goal plan" — no measurement needed. From about 11 or 12, players can handle a measurable target with a monthly review. Full three-goal planning works well from around 13 or 14.
How often should a hockey player review their goals?
Monthly, on a fixed date. Mid-course adjustments made in February or March are far more useful than an end-of-season review when nothing can be acted on. Set a recurring phone reminder on the first of each month.
What should a hockey player do if they miss their goal target?
Distinguish between a short miss (1–2 weeks — resume normally) and a sustained miss (3+ weeks — reduce the weekly action by 30–40%). The goal rarely needs to be abandoned; the process usually needs to be made smaller and more sustainable.
How is this goal-setting article different from the New Year development plan?
The New Year hockey development plan gives you the season-level structure: when to start, how parents and coaches fit in, a full plan template. This article goes deeper on goal-setting method — the three types, SMART adaptation for different ages, review cadence, and how to respond when goals get missed.
Summary
Hockey goal setting works when you use all three types together: an outcome goal to aim for, a performance goal to measure progress, and a process goal to act on every day. Keep the weekly action small enough to survive a tired Thursday. Review monthly, not seasonally. When the process gets missed repeatedly, shrink it — don't quit it. The player who does 50 focused shots five days a week for the whole season will outpace the one who planned 200 and quit by March.
Next steps: build a full-season plan with our New Year hockey development plan, add structured off-ice training with the ultimate off-ice training guide, or set up your daily hockey training routine. Follow us @betterhockeysweden on YouTube and Instagram for more drills.
