The Paradox of Pressure: When Chasing Wins Undermines Performance

There is one thing that every team, coach and athlete I have worked with wants. To win. Winning is seen as a wonderful validation that what you are doing is working. But is it the best way to measure performance?

For many coaches, winning becomes the only measurement of success. If the scoreboard is in their favour than the game went well. When winning games becomes the focal point of every conversation, correction, and interaction coaches and teams have started down a slippery path.

I’ve lived this as a coach. Early in my career I focused too much on the final score. It didn't drive performance. It created tension. And tension is the enemy of peak performance.

My players got tighter, playing to avoid mistakes. Joy quietly drained out of the gym, even though our results were good. Nothing looked “broken," but everyone felt that something was off.

This is the moment many coaches miss. They don’t recognize it until performance stalls or collapses under pressure.

The Problem Coaches Rarely Name

When winning carries too much weight, the scoreboard becomes the only way to determine success or failure. Other key indicators are missed. Wins often disguise poor preparation, lazy habits, and camoflagues the shortcuts athletes take when only winning matters. Losses are bad regardless of how the team plays.

Athletes stop asking:

• What’s the next right action?

And start asking:

• What do I have to do to win?

Mistakes stop being data and become threats. Athletes base their decision-making on the narrow lens of the scoreboard. Confidence becomes tied to the scoreboard; everyone is up when the game is going their way and down when it turns.

Ironically, the harder teams try to protect the score, the more they put it at risk.

Why the Old Approach Fails Under Pressure

The common response of coaches is to push harder:

• More reminders of what’s at stake
• More urgency
• More outcome-based language
• Vague calls to work harder

But pressure doesn’t need to be added, it already exists.

What athletes need in high-stakes environments isn’t more emphasis on the scoreboard. They need clarity, freedom, and trust.

That’s where great coaches separate themselves.

What the Best Coaches Do Instead

Elite coaches don’t remove the pressure to win from the environment. They reframe it. Winning is the by product of doing the right things every possession, practice and training session.

They shift attention from results to standards, behaviours, and identity, trusting that performance will follow.

Here are a few real-world examples that illustrate this shift.

John Wooden

Wooden famously avoided talking about winning championships.His focus was on the daily execution of fundamentals, how players practiced, prepared, and treated one another. Improvement was measured by effort, attention to detail, and growth, not banners.

The scoreboard was a by-product, not a motivational tool, and the banners came as a result of elite talent and

Bill Walsh

Walsh introduced the concept of the Standard of Performance. He believed that if every detail was executed to standard, the score would take care of itself. He rarely referenced winning. He obsessed over process, precision, and professionalism.

This approach transformed a losing franchise into a dynasty.

The Shift That Changes Everything

These coaches didn’t lower standards. They raised them.

They understood something critical:

So they changed the conversation:

• What’s at stake? → What's our next best action?
• From Don’t mess this up → Rely on your training.
• From Results define us → Habits prepare us.

A Test for Coaches

Ask yourself:

• What messaging are you unintentionally giving about winning, does it match what you tell your athletes?
• How do athletes respond to a loss?
• If someone walked into practice today, what would they think you value most?

Winning a game is positive, but it should not be the dominate measurement of success. Because the teams that perform best under pressure aren’t the ones obsessing about the scoreboard.

They’re the ones anchored in the process and leaning into standards, trust, and clarity when it matters most.

Are you or your athletes struggling to be their best?

Let's find a solution together.

I help coaches thrive.

As a Certified Mental Performance Consultant and a basketball coach with 25 years of experience, I understand the barriers to peak performance for both you and your athletes.

I would love to help you or your team build a competitive advantage. Here are a few ways I can help:

• Consult with your team or coaching staff
• Teach mental skills to your team via Zoom
• Work 1 on 1 with coaches
• Work 1 on 1 with athletes

Book a Free Discovery Call

If you’re feeling the weight of expectations, pressure, or burnout, you don’t have to figure this out alone.

A discovery call is simply a chance to talk through your season, your goals, and your process, with another coach who’s been there. No pitch. No obligation. Just a meaningful conversation.

Schedule a discovery call here.

Shoot me an email at jasonpayne@evolutionmpc.com. I love to talk coaching and see how I can help you.

Coaching is hard, let's make it easier.

Check out my website at http://jasonpayne.ca​

Thanks for reading and have a great week.