OT: Sports consistency - Printable Version
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OT: Sports consistency - SkiBum80 - 03-13-2025
Just some musings on a topic that comes up often in football and basketball player interviews (among other sports).
Will often hear a player say "My goal is to be more consistent". (or something similar)
And this is fine, no problem, just kind of irritates me a little as seems a too-easy overused expression.
As in, do you mean "consistently mediocre?" (of course not!)
But in thinking about it further, this is what I think and hope they really mean by it.
To make far more good or great plays, than mistakes.
Because no one is ever mistake free.
But you want to make those mistakes fewer in number and really pale in comparison to how many good or great plays made.
Kind of like the assists/turnover ratio in basketball.
But for all plays, for all mistakes, for the whole game.
A Plays/Mistakes ratio. Or P/M for short.
The really skilled and more experienced players are building up a better Plays/Mistakes ratio.
A less experienced player might be really talented, but might also make a lot of mistakes.
So they may be really good, but their P/M is still too low because of all the mistakes, and they need to improve that to better help the team.
Example in point, and just from subjective watching (not going to the stats sheets).
Maxime Raynaud is having a great P/M season.
He's making plays like sinking shots, grabbing rebounds, dishing off assists, laying off of dumb fouls, blocking shots, etc. so much more than mistakes, like a turnover, a mistaken switch off leaving a guy wide open, forgetting to block out a rebounder, taking a badly forced (low percentage) shot, etc.
So in my mind now, when I hear a player say "I want to be more consistent",
I translate this in my head to mean "a better P/M ratio",
and it makes more sense to me.
RE: OT: Sports consistency - BostonCard - 03-13-2025
Here's my thinking. I used to play racketball, and when I did, every once in a while (unfortunately, too rarely), I hit a nearly unreturnable shot, and I would lament that I could not hit that shot more consistently. Like, if I am able to hit that shot once, why can't I hit it like that every time, or at least much more often than I do; clearly I am *capable* of it, since I managed to do it. What I wasn't capable of doing is hitting it like that *consistently*. So, to me, when someone says they want to to be more consistent, what they are saying is that they want to play at or near their ceiling more consistently (as opposed to raising the ceiling). This probably makes a lot more sense in sports like track or swimming. You could work to improve your PR, or you could work so that your non-PR races are nonetheless closer to your PR and thus more consistent.
BC
RE: OT: Sports consistency - Mick - 03-13-2025
I hit two perfect golf shots a round on my way to a 108. If only I could more consistently hit those perfect shots and eliminate the other 106, which are frustratingly consistent...
RE: OT: Sports consistency - BostonCard - 03-13-2025
(03-13-2025, 05:37 PM)Mick Wrote: I hit two perfect golf shots a round on my way to a 108. If only I could more consistently hit those perfect shots and eliminate the other 106, which are frustratingly consistent...
Never played golf for this reason. I think I would forever be mad at myself for not hitting those beautiful shots more often.
BC
RE: OT: Sports consistency - Giants - 03-13-2025
(03-13-2025, 05:33 PM)BostonCard Wrote: Here's my thinking. I used to play racketball, and when I did, every once in a while (unfortunately, too rarely), I hit a nearly unreturnable shot, and I would lament that I could not hit that shot more consistently. Like, if I am able to hit that shot once, why can't I hit it like that every time, or at least much more often than I do; clearly I am *capable* of it, since I managed to do it. What I wasn't capable of doing is hitting it like that *consistently*. So, to me, when someone says they want to to be more consistent, what they are saying is that they want to play at or near their ceiling more consistently (as opposed to raising the ceiling). This probably makes a lot more sense in sports like track or swimming. You could work to improve your PR, or you could work so that your non-PR races are nonetheless closer to your PR and thus more consistent.
BC
I define consistency as making the right play at the right time on a regular basis. Whether your ceiling is the NBA or the local rec. league is immaterial.
RE: OT: Sports consistency - qwerty49 - 03-14-2025
(03-13-2025, 05:47 PM)BostonCard Wrote:(03-13-2025, 05:37 PM)Mick Wrote: I hit two perfect golf shots a round on my way to a 108. If only I could more consistently hit those perfect shots and eliminate the other 106, which are frustratingly consistent...
Never played golf for this reason. I think I would forever be mad at myself for not hitting those beautiful shots more often.
BC
No, actually what happens is you remember every detail of those two perfect shots, and totally forget the other 110. Those two shots keep you coming back for more.
RE: OT: Sports consistency - fullmetal - 03-14-2025
They say it takes ten good reps to fix a bad rep. Muscle memory is a crazy thing.