Changefully

I've worked with this athlete since 2024. She's a 16-year-old swimmer and, as we do every six months, we recently completed her Changefully assessment again.

The changes were pretty significant. Mindset increased by 80%. Flow, Focus and Optimism by 50%. Belief by 33%. Autonomy by 25%. Even the areas that were already strong—Effort, Grit and Purpose—continued to improve.

But then I asked her what she thought had changed. And this was her answer:

"The biggest shift for me is in understanding who I am now and connecting my results to what I do and not who I am."

That's the bit I really care about. She's 16. Swimming is something she does. Being a swimmer is part of her life. Her results matter to her. Of course they do. But her results aren't her. A bad swim doesn't make her a bad swimmer. And being a good swimmer doesn't make her a more worthy person.

We've spent a lot of time exploring that distinction — who I am versus what I am — and I think her comment says far more about her development than an 80% improvement in Mindset ever could. The numbers are nice. But this is the progress.

The best athletes don't just breathe. They breathe with purpose.
Every breath changes something. Your energy. Your attention. Your emotions. Your performance.

The question isn't whether you should breathe. It's which breath does this moment need?

Back in early 2020, a mutual friend thought Paul Caddy and I should talk. Paul was at the helm of the University of Connecticut (UConn) Field Hockey team, about to embark on his first year as head coach. It was the middle of COVID. Seasons were uncertain, and coaches were looking for new ways to understand and support their athletes. After a few conversations, Paul invited me to profile his team using Changefully, a psychological performance framework I'd been researching and developing since the 1990s.

All the athletes in the squad completed an assessment. From there, I developed an individual performance profile for every athlete, a leadership profile and a Team Performance Report. Together, they created a psychological blueprint of the team before a game had even been played. The report was designed to answer a simple but important question: How is this team most likely to perform when the pressure becomes real?

The assessment identified a talented group with strong leadership, high standards and significant potential. It also suggested that, as pressure increased, confidence, perfectionism, self-judgement and the need to prove themselves were likely to become increasingly influential.

The recommendations were surprisingly simple: Create psychological safety; emphasise learning over judgement; recognise effort before outcomes; keep athletes engaged and active; provide brief, clear instruction; reduce opportunities for overthinking; treat mistakes as information, not identity. In other words, don't just coach the hockey. Coach the environment in which the hockey is played.

Then the season began. UConn finished 12–2 and won the Big East Championship. Looking back now, it isn't the record that interests me most. It's how often the team's psychological profile helped explain what was happening beneath the surface of their performances. The report didn't predict the results. It wasn't supposed to. What it did identify were the psychological conditions under which this particular team was most likely to flourish…and the moments where those conditions were most likely to be tested. That project reinforced something I've believed for more than twenty-five years. Performance data tells us what happened. Psychological insight helps us understand the people behind it. We spend countless hours developing technical skills, tactical systems and physical preparation. Yet the psychological environment in which athletes train and compete is often left to instinct. It doesn't have to be. When talent is equal, understanding how your athletes are most likely to think, connect and perform under pressure may be one of the greatest competitive advantages a coach can have.

I often start North Star-MAP workshops with a simple challenge. Each table receives a jigsaw puzzle. There's just one catch. They don't get to see the picture on the box.

Within minutes, the room starts to change. People begin working hard, but not necessarily together. Different ideas emerge. Different priorities emerge. Some people become frustrated. Some become quiet. Some become convinced they know the answer. The loudest voices often begin to dominate. Everyone is trying to solve the same puzzle. But they're all working from a different picture.

Then we introduce the image on the box. Everything changes. Conversations become clearer. Decisions become easier. Collaboration improves. The energy shifts. Not because the team suddenly became more talented. Because they finally had a shared vision of what they were trying to create.

The lesson is simple. Most performance challenges aren't capability problems. They're clarity problems. When people can see where they're going, alignment becomes easier. That's why every North Star-MAP workshop starts with the same question: What are we truly trying to create together? Because once that becomes clear, everything else gets easier.

Spent time recently delivering the final stages of a North Star and MAP session with a sporting team. The goal wasn’t simply to create values or write another mission statement for a wall. It was to create alignment. To help the group identify: what they are truly reaching for, what they are pursuing right now, the behaviours that support that pursuit, and the values that hold everything together under pressure.

One of the things I continue to find fascinating in high-performing environments is that the best teams are rarely built only through talent or tactics. They are usually built through clarity. Clarity around: identity, standards, communication, behaviour, ex*****on and collective responsibility.

The North Star provides enduring direction. The MAP helps teams bring that direction to life through: Mission, Approach, and Principles. Simple. Clear. Behavioural. Aligned. Because eventually pressure exposes every environment.

I’ve spent years refining this process - and it’s always rewarding to see it come together and produce results.

7 Reasons Why Pickleball Players Tighten Up Under Pressure

Most pickleball players don’t tighten up because they suddenly lose their skill. They tighten up because pressure changes what their brain and body pay attention to.

Here are seven common reasons it happens.

1. They start trying not to miss
When players shift from “play the point” to “don’t make a mistake,” their attention becomes protective instead of purposeful. That often leads to safe swings, tight hands, cautious footwork and rushed decisions.

2. They think too much about technique
Under pressure, players often start consciously controlling movements that usually happen automatically. Grip. Swing path. Serve motion. Paddle angle. The problem is that too much conscious control can disrupt rhythm and fluency.

3. Their attention narrows
Pressure can make players focus too much on the threat: the score, the opponent, the mistake, the partner’s reaction, or the fear of losing. When attention narrows, players often stop seeing options clearly.

4. They confuse urgency with speed
Pickleball can change quickly. A few lost points can make players feel like they have to respond immediately. So they rush. They attack too early. Force low-percentage shots. Try to win the rally before it has properly developed.

5. They feel judged
Pressure increases when players feel watched, evaluated or responsible for the outcome. That’s why some players tighten up more in tournaments, finals, ladders, or doubles partnerships where they don’t want to let someone down.

6. Their body prepares for threat
Under pressure, the body can shift into protection mode. Breathing gets shallower. Muscles tighten.�Hands get heavier. Movement becomes less fluid. That’s not weakness. It’s the nervous system preparing for something it perceives as important or threatening.

7. They lose their reset
The best players aren’t emotionless. They just reset faster. Many players carry one point into the next. One missed return becomes two rushed shots. One bad decision becomes a whole run of poor decisions. The skill isn’t avoiding pressure. The skill is noticing it early enough to reset.

Try this between points:
Breathe out slowly.� Relax your grip.� Drop your shoulders.� Look at a clear target.� Say one simple cue: “Next ball.”

Pressure doesn’t disappear. But when you slow yourself down internally, you give your skill a better chance to show up externally.

Sunshine Coast Pickleball Association