Comparing performance and personal best
Physical Education · Key Stage 2 · The School
Measure it the same way twice
A comparison only means something if the conditions match. Same distance, same equipment, same rest beforehand, timed the same way. A faster time on a shorter course is not an improvement. Write down the conditions along with the number, because in three weeks you will not remember whether it was windy or whether you had already run once that day.
Compare with yourself
PERSONAL BEST means your own best, not the group’s. Comparing yourself with the fastest person in the class tells you almost nothing you can act on, because you did not start where they started. Comparing this month with last month tells you whether what you are doing is working. Progress is also rarely a straight line — a worse week is normal and is not evidence of failure.
A target you can actually chase
A useful target is specific, small and near: shave a second off, add two more repetitions, hold the shape for five seconds longer. A vague target — "get better at football" — cannot be checked and so cannot motivate. Name the one thing you will change to reach it, and how you will know. Coaches call this the difference between a wish and a plan.
Ten children run 50 m. AGAINST OTHERS: you came seventh, which tells you about the group and nothing about you. AGAINST YOURSELF: last month 10.4 s, today 9.9 s — half a second faster, which tells you the training worked. Both are real, and only the second is under your control. Keep a personal-best card and the seventh place stops being the headline.