Dumbass Sayings: “You Miss 100% of The Shots You Don’t Take”

You hit 0% of the shots you
take straight into the air.

Hockey legend Wayne Gretzky once said “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” It sounds nice and it’s a very inspirational quote to help motivate you to take chances rather than lay inert, but it’s entirely flawed. You don’t miss 100% of the shots you don’t take because if you don’t take a shot, it’s physically impossible for you to miss. You actually miss 0% of the shots you don’t take. This is like saying “You impregnate 100% of the women you don’t have sex with.” No. A negative outcome cannot come from a non-event.

This saying is supposed to help you not be afraid of taking chances, but the whole point of being cautious and frightened are the negative consequences of missing. Missing is bad and sometimes life isn’t like hockey. You don’t always get another shot. If your main concern is to not miss then shooting with the belief that if you don’t shoot you’ll miss is completely insane and wrong.

This saying really only applies to hockey. Even if you apply it to a similar sport like basketball it makes no sense. If you suck, don’t shoot the ball and miss so the other team can get a rebound, just pass it to someone on your team who’s better. By doing that you didn’t miss a shot and your team actually scored, that’s a far better outcome than gambling on yourself assuming the worst will occur if you don’t shoot. This is a seriously self-centered saying. If anything, this saying should be “You can’t hit the shots you don’t take.” That’s a far more accurate saying.