Summary of Article:

Coaches play a critical role in shaping athlete mindsets—and understanding the difference between excellence and perfectionism is key to fostering long-term growth and well-being.

Volt's latest coaching insight piece explores how a focus on excellence—driven by growth, reflection, and intrinsic motivation—can help athletes thrive without compromising their mental health.

In contrast, perfectionism creates pressure, fear of failure, and a cycle of dissatisfaction, often leading to anxiety and burnout despite short-term performance. The article provides actionable strategies for coaches to shift athletes from perfectionist tendencies to a mindset rooted in progress and resilience.

Key Takeaways for Coaches:

Set process-oriented goals that reward effort over outcome.
Coach reflection instead of criticism, building a growth-focused training environment.
Celebrate small wins and prioritize recovery to reinforce sustainable success.
Help athletes reconnect with their "why" to boost intrinsic motivation and joy in sport.

By embracing excellence over perfectionism, coaches can create a culture that builds confident, adaptable athletes—both on and off the field.

In today’s social media-driven world of curated images and polished messages, it’s easy to fall into the trap of valuing perfectionism over true excellence. On the surface, perfectionism and excellence may look the same. Both require hard work, discipline, and motivation but when you peel back the layers, they couldn’t be more different.

So how do you ensure you encourage your athletes to pursue excellence over perfection? First, you need to deeply understand the difference.

Coaching Excellence: What it Really Means

Excellence isn’t about being perfect. It’s about helping athletes become better than they were yesterday. It’s a commitment to growth, learning, and consistent effort without sacrificing their mental and emotional well-being. As a coach focused on excellence, you know mistakes are part of the process. This message seeps down to your athletes allowing them to embrace mistakes—not see them as a reflection of their worth.

Excellence is fueled by intrinsic motivation—the drive to improve because it matters to them, not just to meet external expectations.

The Perfectionism Trap in Coaching

Perfectionism, on the other hand, is a trap that creates unrealistic expectations and pressure, ultimately undermining an athlete’s confidence. It’s not about doing their best—it becomes about trying to be flawless. At its core, perfectionism is driven by fear: fear of failure, fear of judgment, and fear of not being good enough. It whispers that an athlete’s worth depends on achieving impossible standards. And here’s what many don’t realize: even when athletes meet those standards, perfectionism moves the goalpost, trapping them in a never-ending cycle of feeling inadequate.

Coaching Excellence vs. Coaching Perfectionism

As a coach, the way you set expectations can shape how athletes view success, failure, and their own growth. Encouraging excellence builds confident, resilient athletes, while pushing perfectionism can lead to fear, hesitation, and burnout.

Excellence > Perfectionism

Progress > Perfection
Excellence is about continuous improvement. Perfectionism demands flawlessness.

Effort & Learning > Fear of Mistakes
Great coaches celebrate effort and learning. Perfectionism makes athletes afraid to fail.

Intrinsic Motivation > External Validation
Excellence is fueled by personal growth. Perfectionism is driven by fear of judgment.

Confidence & Adaptability > Anxiety & Hesitation
When athletes pursue excellence, they trust the process. Perfectionism creates self-doubt.

Resilience & Long-Term Success > Burnout & Frustration
Excellence builds mental toughness. Perfectionism leads to stress and exhaustion.

By coaching for excellence, you help athletes focus on growth, embrace challenges, and develop a mindset that fuels success both in and out of sports.

Why Does It All Matter?!

Picture this: Two athletes are preparing for the same competition. The first athlete—focused on excellence—trains hard, learns from their mistakes, and prioritizes recovery. They’re in it for the love of the sport, and every practice feels like a step forward.

The second athlete is caught in perfectionism. They fixate on every minor detail, beat themselves up for small errors, and push through exhaustion because anything less than perfect feels like failure. They might win today, but at what cost? Their joy, their mental health, their love for the game?

This isn’t just about sports. Whether it’s in careers, relationships, or personal growth, teaching your athletes to pursue excellence will fuel every aspect of their life.

Taking Action as a Coach

Transitioning from perfectionism to the pursuit of excellence isn’t just about mindset, it takes action. Here are some of my favorite ways to incorporate daily actions of the pursuit of excellence into your coaching:

Set Process-Oriented Goals: Instead of focusing solely on outcomes, focus on the steps that your athletes will take to get there. For example, celebrate training session attendance rather than just game-day results.
Coach Reflection, Not Criticism: At the end of practice, as your athletes, “What did you learn today?” instead of only sharing areas for improvement. Inviting them to reflect on progress keeps them grounded in growth.
Create a Supportive Environment: Surround your athletes with peers and mentors who encourage progress over perfection. Encourage them to share their goals with those who will celebrate their wins and help them navigate challenges.
Prioritize Athlete Rest and Recovery: Excellence doesn’t mean grinding 24/7. Schedule breaks, encourage them to get enough sleep, and reframe rest as part of their training for peak performance.
Celebrate Small Wins: Progress often comes in tiny steps. Recognize and celebrate every milestone, no matter how small, to keep athletes motivated.
Reconnect Athletes to Their Passion: When the journey feels tough, remind athletes why they started. Keeping their purpose front and center can reignite their drive and help them focus on what truly matters.

The Final Shift: Coaching Beyond Perfectionism

If perfectionism has crept into your coaching or into the approach of your athletes, here’s how to shift toward excellence:

Redefine Success: Success isn’t about being flawless. It’s about learning, growing, and showing up.
Celebrate Progress: Focus the athlete on how far they’ve come, not just how far they have to go.
Welcome Mistakes: They’re not failures; they’re feedback.
Teach Athletes to Be Kind to Themselves: Encourage athletes to talk to themselves like they’d talk to a friend who’s struggling.
Reconnect Them to Their Why: What really matters to the athlete? Let that guide them instead of fear.

The pursuit of excellence is about progress, not perfection. It’s about showing up, making your best effort, and knowing that your self-worth isn’t tied to the end result or any outcomes. Perfectionism might promise greatness, but it delivers exhaustion and self-doubt. Excellence, on the other hand, helps athletes become the best version of themselves without getting lost in the process.