When the Score Doesn’t Matter!
- Julie Jones
- 6 days ago
- 6 min read
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Like many of you, I have spent my entire life looking at scores. Scores on tests. Scores on scoreboards. Our scores. Our opponents’ scores. Average scores. Top scores. Bottom scores. Records. Stats. This list could go on and on!
Yes, the score matters. We would all love to be on top. It’s how we rank everything from valedictorians to national champions.
But the real question is, WHEN does the score matter?
In a session with one of my teams last week, this topic dominated our conversation. When they get down early in a game, they feel pressure. The score matters. The game changes. Their attention moves away from what they can and need to do to what might happen if they don’t catch up. They feel like they “have to” be close to perfect to get back in the game.
When they get up early in the game, they play very differently… the opposite of what I just described.
So, I asked, “Why would you play any different depending on the score? What benefit does your performance derive from this approach?”
I don’t remember whether the score mattered much to me throughout my softball career, but I do remember rarely knowing the score when I played basketball. My Kamikaze approach did not change based on how many points we had…or not. I find this funny because I could focus like crazy on the task at hand on the court, but a ticking clock or someone popping their gum can send me into a tizzy!
What if I were to ask you, “What if your scoreboard was covered? Would you play differently? What if you didn’t know the score? Would it change your approach?”
We’ve been so conditioned to chase outcomes that scoreboard watching is hard to avoid!
Rankings, stats and even likes and retweets (or whatever you call them now) all scream “you’re good” or “you’re not” based on what has happened. We think this is how we need to take the temperature of what is going on.
But when we focus on being down or up, we aren’t focused on anything we can control. And if we want to build consistent, elite performers on the field or in the boardroom, we’ve got to teach ourselves and our teams to focus on what we control: our process, our effort and our mindset!
NONE OF THEM ARE REFLECTED ON THE SCOREBOARD!
Scoreboards don’t tell the whole story. You can dominate a game and still lose. You can be flat, distracted and inconsistent…and still win. If we let outcomes dictate how we evaluate performance, we lose the opportunity to learn and grow.
More importantly, if we focus on the score, whether we’re kicking butt or having ours handed to us, we aren’t focused on doing what we need to improve our position or performance.
When we focus on the score…or what others are doing…on what others have…on anything other than What’s Important Now...we fall into a fear of failure mode and create pressure to catch up or maintain a lead. We put ourselves in “what if” mode that spikes our cortisol and kills our presence!!!
But we play because we love to win, you say! I beg to differ. We don’t play only because we love to win. If that were the only reason, people would quit after a tough season…and most would have quit a long time ago!
Winning is a byproduct, not the purpose. What keeps us coming back is the growth, challenge and pursuit of being our best.
PROCESS – NOT OUTCOME!
In our conversation last week, I likened playing based on the score to a pitcher changing her approach depending on the batter. In what situation would you not want to throw your best pitch? To the worst hitter? Will you change your “spot” for the 4-hitter? You want to throw your best pitch every pitch, and you focus and prepare to do so! And all pitchers know that when they change their approach based on what they think the hitter may do, they aren’t focused on what they need to do…and that leads to trouble!
When you’re winning, do you not care if you get too much plate? When you’re losing, do you move the ball 2 inches out (that’s probably a ball, and if you’re looking to put people on the bases, that’s a good approach 😊).
Or we could look at this from a hitter’s point of view. Do you give a ¾ swing when you are up by 4 and thus, does being down by 4 require a 110% swing?
It’s time to evaluate based on execution, not the score or how you feel about it!
If you’re sticking to your training, managing your mindset, competing with intent and controlling the controllables, you’re already winning, no matter what the scoreboard shows.
In fact, one of the most elite things you can do is keep playing your game…and find ways to make a difference, doing what you can, with what you have, where you are!
But we know that when the scoreboard doesn’t look the way we want it to, these things are tough to do. So what can we do!?
The first thing we need to acknowledge is that whether we’re up by 10 or down by 2, our job doesn’t change! As Dr. Jonah Oliver says, we need “an ordinary performance on a special day”, meaning, no matter where we are or what is going on, we need to implement or training…our ordinary stuff, not something special or different based on the score!
Past that, we need to measure what matters, and what matters is what we can control. (I know, I know, the score matters…but it doesn’t matter when you are deciding whether to swing at a low outside pitch or drive to the left when you see an opening!)
My team is now taking a dry-erase board to the dugout to track their process throughout the game. They know what they need to do. They know what they can do. They know what they do best. They also know that sticking to who they are makes them much better!
To stick to this process, the process must be front and center and the whiteboard is our new scoreboard! What can we track that we can do NO MATTER WHAT the scoreboard says?
What controllable things…process-oriented things…do we do that we can rate based on our focus, effort and consistency? The funny thing is, when we control these things, they often change the scoreboard in our favor!
When the score swings, our emotions tend to follow, so it’s time to plug in our reset! We all need a Ctrl+Alt+Delete for our mindset to get us back into the process! The brain loves consistency. Give it a ritual to return to under pressure!
Not into a team scoreboard? Create role-specific checklists. Help each athlete define what execution looks like for their position or job and find a way to measure their effectiveness…based on what they can control, of course! This is a great way to build evidence of improvement or get a good look at why things aren’t working based on the number of checks he or she gets after the performance.
This is also a great time for our “if…then” planning! We can cut off catastrophe at the chase! “If ‘this’ happens, I’ll do _____”! It’s back to preloading responses and avoiding an emotional hijack!
Finally, I’ll steal another great trick from this group that was a huge focus at the start of the season and that they are reverting to again as we move through the conference season. They are going to coach and celebrate the process LOUDLY! They are celebrating little things like taking a ball, a great first step, smart decisions, effort and focus. They are catching each other doing things right, no matter what the scoreboard says. By celebrating these things, they are reinforcing their control!
Remember, the scoreboard can lie! It doesn’t always tell the truth about how we’re playing or who we are! When we’re tied to the score, we lose control of our mindset. Champions focus on what’s next…no matter what just happened. That’s how we take our power back!
So cover the scoreboard…. literally or mentally and lock in on what matters. The PROCESS will give back…if you stick to it. The problem is, we give up on it based on things out of our control!
Does this mean the scoreboard will always show up in our favor? Of course not. But if you measure what you can control, you can find wins all around you…and if you don’t…that tells you something, too!
Manage the moments since you can’t control the score!!
Julie
P.S. Get your team started with a mental performance training program! Are you a high school coach? Check out our 5-week program to help you get to and through your conference play at your peak! You can find out more about it HERE.
Julie Jones
Mental Performance Coach
SSB Performance
juliej@ssbperformance.com • 234-206-0946
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