Result vs Process is a big philosophical topic in coaching. With many angles to approach this from. Mülders will share his insights on the different phases a team goes through and the impact of the culture & history of a country or organisation… Having coached the Germans, the Chinese and now the Dutch he has had his share of very different cultures to deal with.
As field hockey coaches, we’re always wrestling with that eternal dilemma: are we measured by results, or by how we go about getting them? The recent masterclass with Jamilon Mulders (Dutch women’s national team coach) brought this into sharp focus, with a simple yet powerful reminder: the process is what sustains long-term success, while results are simply milestones along the way.
The One Thing to Take Away
If you absorb one lesson from Jamilon Mulders’s session, let it be this: prioritizing process over outcome is crucial — especially in developmental environments, but even at the highest level. He emphasized that while results offer feedback and information, they should never define your pathway or culture. Instead, focus should be placed on building robust processes: the daily environment, the way athletes learn, and how you collectively approach both training and competition.
Why is this so important?
Results can mislead. A win doesn’t always mean progress; a loss doesn’t always mean failure. Only consistent, intentional process allows real growth — for individuals, for teams, and for entire systems.
Development outlasts scorelines. As
Jamilon Mulders
illustrated, successful athletes and teams are nurtured over years, not days. Chasing short-term outcomes can be seductive but is rarely sustainable.
Adapting to modern athletes. Today’s youth are less likely to accept traditional structures — coaches need to provide buy-in, autonomy, and help them discover their own pathways within a supportive process.
“Results are just information you can use … These achievement goals are key. The combination of a broader goal, a bigger picture, and then scrolling down — how do we want to perform, what do we need for the end product, and what’s required from there, backwards to where we are at now? We need to be very specific — by not having the pitfall of the tendency to really specialize too early, or feeling an internal or external pressure to perform far earlier than needed.”
How to Apply This Every Day
Set clear process goals. In your weekly sessions, articulate what quality looks like. Make fundamentals and decision-making cornerstones, not just game tactics.
Use results as feedback, not the main measurement. After matches, review not only outcomes but whether your team executed the process you practiced.
Build a feedback-rich, evaluative culture.
Jamilon Mulders
is adamant: regular, honest evaluation (every 2–3 weeks) is essential. “If you do it quick, if you do it short, if you do it on time, then it’s possible to tweak something that is currently a small thing. But if you wait…” it grows into a serious problem.
Be brave enough to tweak. Allow your process to be flexible — change course as evaluations demand, rather than stubbornly pushing on with what isn’t working.
Communicate the ‘why’ at all times. Especially with younger or modern athletes, explaining how each part of training supports the bigger journey keeps buy-in high.
Implementing this mindset might require you to “coach backwards,” starting with your overarching philosophy and filtering down to daily actions. It means you won’t judge a season by medals or league tables alone, but by whether the system, staff, and athletes have moved closer to your culture’s true north.
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