Which player would you say is serving better?
Before we delve into that - what if not focusing on the result was the best way to accomplish the desired result?
Mental Skills coach Gilbert Enoka contributed to the All Blacks winning back-to-back Rugby World Cup in 2011 and 2015. They'd previously lost 5 World Cups.
One key thing he changed was that previously, even though the All Blacks were normally the #1 team in the World heading into World Cups, they often abandoned their winning systems at key times when they found themselves behind on the scoreboard in a knock-out match.
Enoka got them to shift their focus from the scoreboard, to the systems/behaviors and mindsets that created great plays at these times.
In other words, he focused them not on the scoreboard, but back on trusting their systems and teammates, and focusing on the winning behaviors that created the desired results.
Many years ago, I was an associate with the firm that helped Sydney win the 2000 Olympics. One of my colleagues told me that she had worked with 5x Olympic Gold winner Ian Thorpe, who had developed the same approach. He didn't define "winning a race" as winning gold. He defined winning a race as "finding something that he could improve upon in his next race." This relentless focus on behaviors, not the scoreboard, allowed him to compete and win in multiple Olympics.
You don't have to be an elite sports professional to benefit from this principle
I've used this same system for more than 14 years with more than 60 founders and leaders, including the Bitcoin leaders and ambassadors group I run. On our recent group call, one person celebrated a successful cap raise. Another celebrated a shift in mindset that had caused a breakthrough in the development team after 6 months. We celebrated both equally. The first is a great milestone: we focus on unpacking what caused it (the behaviors and mindset shifts). The second win is a behavior/mindset shift that will create future wins on the scoreboard.
Both matter equally.
A relentless focus on the behaviors, skills, tactics systems and mindsets that create results is the best way to create results. If you define winning as "finding something to improve each day" - that's how winning on the scoreboard gets created.
Like sports, it is easier to apply this principle in a group of your peers, with a coach who is looking out for blindspots. Our next Bitcoin leaders group starts in April. Reach out if this is something you'd like to learn more about.
So which player had the better result?
Assuming other features of the serve are equal, notably speed, we would say that the one on the left served in at a higher percentage (20% vs 0%).
However, the server on the right has by far the better serving behaviors. This player has achieved a grouping, one of the most important things in serving because it is evidence of having a high degree of control. With coaching and direction they will soon be serving a high percentage of serves in. Likely they may just be hitting the ball consistently a fraction too early - which is an easy correction. The shooter on the left is all over the place, and got lucky on one serve. They will need a lot more coaching to produce the right consistent result (grip, throw, swing arc, follow through, leg drive, wrist pronation, breath...)
This visual serves as a reminder of the value of placing more emphasis on the right behaviors that create the result... that is if your goal is to win consistently.