Performance Vs Outcome in sport
When does performance matter and when does outcome matter in sport?
Win ugly. Lose well. Didn't deserve to lose. Lucky win.
All of these are common sayings in elite sport from spectators, commentators and even players at times.
And they are all true (I have some objection to the luck one but that's for another time)
So what is more important - how you perform or the result? Or both?
Well, it depends a little on the situation and where you are in the season, career, but also most importantly where you are mentally and what your mindset to your sport is.
A 35 year old tennis player coming to the end of his career who wants to win a particular tournament and finds themselves in the final may not worry too much about how they perform if they go home with the trophy.
A 25 year old at the start of their professional tour, who of course wants to win matches and titles, may be more focused on their performances rather than outcome. This can be a great mindset to have because:
They are building their game
They are working on strengths and weaknesses
They are creating an on court identity
They are taking bigger risks knowing that they may make more mistakes but the mistakes will be better and pay off in long run
They are learning all the time about being a professional on tour
They are training all aspects of their game, physical, tactical, technical, mental - and this can be messy.
It is not uncommon that when athletes are brave and start to make changes in their game, the results may drop but hopefully they feel that their performance is working towards something bigger and better.
Think of a golfer going through a swing change or different putter
Think of a tennis player changing their serve motion
Think of a snooker player changing cues or stroke.
These are all task goals which relate to performance and the result may not be imminent.
Poor performances don't always lead to good outcomes or results.
Great performances don't always lead to good outcomes and results.
Yesterday - at my club match I sucked, really sucked, but somehow got the win. But I wasn't too pleased as I didn't play well and I am focused on improving as a player rather than just winning. But I also really wanted a win as I had lost my last 4. So I took it and moved on but will be working with my coach hard tomorrow on what I didn't perform well on.
For elite athletes your relationship towards performance and outcome is important.
Too focused on outcome can lead to stress, lack of focus on performance and using outcome as a strong measure of success in sport and life which can be detrimental.
Too focused on performance can lead to being hyper-focused on the relationship between the two and may lead to being hyper critical of poor performances despite the outcome.
Sometimes you just have to let go of both the performance and the outcome.
Sometimes you need to focus a little more on one than the other (usually performance works better).
A coach like me who works on this with you can really help frame these situations better and allow you to have more freedom in your relationship with both performance and outcome.
And more freedom in your sport usually leads to better performance and outcome.
If you are an athlete struggling mentally to deal with how you are performing or your results then please reach out to me here at Athlete Life Coaching.
