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What’s in this newsletter?

• 🏎️ Drift Defined: What it is and how it impacts performance.

• ⌚️ Remember that time…?: Examples of Drift from the pros.

• 🤔 Recognizing Drift: How emotional thresholds trigger performance issues.

• 🏇 Harnessing Drift: Turning emotional energy into a tool for improved performance.

The Idea: Defining “Drift”

This is the fifth Newsletter in our series on Maximizing Performance. In it, we will discuss our work with athletes. If you’ve missed our previous installments, we’ve listed them below.

1. Commitment vs Contentment: What Elite Performance Looks Like (Link)

2. The Framework for Evaluating Performance: How do I know how I’m doing? (Link)

3. Addressing Fear: admitting what is causing you to view performance wrongly. (Link)

4. Finding Your Purpose: How to discover and lean into your “why”. (Link)

This week, we take you through the second of our four-step process that we take coaches, athletes, and performers through establishing, maintaining, and maximizing a plan for:

1. Fear ✅

2. Purpose ✅

3. Drift ⬜️

4. Confidence ⬜️

This week, it’s “Drift”.

Something that every single athlete and coach experiences but few master. You’ll understand exactly what we mean in the next section.

Also, we want to say here that there’s a reason we go in the order we do above. We believe it is a fatal mistake to begin working on Drift before dealing with Fear or Purpose.

A huge part of dealing with Drift is understanding where it comes from. And until you’ve addressed your fear and found your purpose, it’s nearly impossible to do that.

Anecdote: Remember that time…?

Ever seen this happen?

Or this?

Do you remember this?

For those who don’t remember, this was Draymond Green’s fourth flagrant foul of the playoffs in 2016, which resulted in a one-game suspension. This is the famous seriousness that caused Cleveland to come from behind down 3-1 in the series to win. Which game was Draymond suspended for? Game 5.

Did he know that one more flagrant foul would result in a suspension? Absolutely.

And he still toed the line in the clip above, ultimately resulting in his suspension.

Now, these are all extreme examples. These athletes were upset. These are some form of an emotional outburst.

But this is something that every single athlete and coach experiences at some point in nearly every game. And most of the time, it’s barely obvious.

So, what is DRIFT?

It’s when logic goes out the window. An athlete or coach knows what works best for them. They know the game plan. And they still drift away from it. It’s irrational. It doesn’t always make much sense. Yet, it happens anyway.

Simplified to its core, drift is an expression of anger, but not the obvious kind. It’s much easier to notice conflict between you and others than to see it between you and yourself. Emotions impact your ability to think and think straight.

It exists between what a coach or player consciously knows and the flaws in their subconscious.

Research: Understanding Drift

Drift can take many forms. There are the prominent examples above. But there are not-so-obvious examples as well. Just from our direct experience, here are some of the ways it has manifested itself in competition:

• Complete silence. Pursed lips. No communication with other teammates or coaches.

• A numb, dull feeling. Empty thoughts. An inability to form sentences.

• Pacing, motor mouth, and hyperactivity.

• Yelling at referees or players when things start to go against you.

• Making excuses and self-sabotage when you realize you might lose.

• Talking excitedly about why you made a decision, justifying it to yourself.

And here’s a particularly scary one — nothing. Some are so good at their outward control that they are battling in their minds, doubting themselves, and speaking to themselves mentally in ways that are demeaning to themselves.

Regarding emotional control, your thoughts are less powerful than your emotions. No matter how mentally tough someone is, you can still be overpowered by your emotions.

We chatted with a golfer just last week who said the following:

“I understand logically what I’m supposed to do. Yet, whenever ______ happens, I still have the same negative reaction. I’m telling my brain all the right things, yet I lose control.”

So, what are some things we need to understand about Drift, and how does that undermine our performance?

1. Everyone’s “drift” looks different, but most is rooted in anger or fear.

2. You will either overreact (hyper-reaction) or under-react (hypo-reaction) when you hit your “emotional threshold.”

3. Handling your drift better requires both out-of-competition work and in-competition strategies.

4. Drift is not always a bad thing.

That’s right; it can be a good thing. Your emotions harnessed in a direction that improves performance can be a good thing. But it demands that you are in control and can direct it to allow you to be a better player or coach at that moment.

Here’s Patrick Mouratoglou, the world’s most famous tennis coach, talking about racket smashing and anger in performance:

@patrickmouratoglou

People are angry, most of the time, when players break their racquet. But you have to catch the reasons behind. #tennis #tennistiktok #ten... See more

Putting it all together:

So, what do we do with the athletes and coaches we work with to help them harness their drift? And what can you begin to do to maintain emotional control and level up your leadership and performance?

We discuss all Drift with the athletes and coaches we work with through the lens of a tool our readers will likely know by now and that we saw just two weeks ago — The Know Yourself to Lead Yourself Tool.

Here’s how we use it.

1. Self-Awareness: We have our athletes/coaches take what they identify as their worst tendencies, impacting their performance around the tool. I’ve included an example below from a coach we work closely with.

   • What’s the tendency? I get incredibly anxious during competitions.

   • What action does that lead to? I pace, micromanage, and try to control everything that happens during a game.

   • What are the consequences? My players feel my anxiousness, and it makes them anxious as well. They also avoid interacting with me during games because they know it will make them tight.

   • What reality does that create? We play uptight and anxious as a team.

2. Recognition: We make them take deliberate notes about what they notice about the patterns that lead to the tendency being played out. This tendency above in and of itself is not bad. It’s quite normal. It’s in the Action that this coach begins to take control. So, we help them recognize the patterns that lead to that action so they can recognize when they feel like getting there.

3. Preparation: We make a plan. Once they recognize when the Drift is coming, we create a deliberate plan of how they will respond when they feel those patterns surfacing. It usually involves two things:

   • Some sort of message to themselves that they say out loud.

   • They decide beforehand what action, behavior, or cue is appropriate for their feelings. For the coach above, it may be to tell another coach of their anxiety and their plan, share a moment with them, and smile that they get to play games that matter.

4. Performance: In serious cases, we prioritize controlling Drift. Watch for the signs and be ready to tell yourself what you know you need to hear, not what you want to hear. If you Drift, take notes immediately afterward to gather more information about it.

5. Evaluation: Depending on how the game or competition went, you must evaluate your improvements, take notes if you still made mistakes, or vent on paper if it was horrible.

Conclusion:

Drift is inevitable, but it doesn’t have to control you. By recognizing your tendencies, preparing deliberate responses, and evaluating your progress, you can turn moments of emotional challenge into opportunities for growth. Take the time this week to reflect on your Drift and use it as a tool to elevate your leadership and performance—because mastery of Drift isn’t just about managing emotions; it’s about unlocking your full potential.

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Team Talks

One of the significant topics coaches ask us about is messaging.

Chances are, if we see a Head Coach’s name pop up on our phone, and they’re in-season, they want to share where their team is in their season and ask how to craft a message to maximize performance.

We know you’re tired of scrolling through YouTube, Instagram, and X (Twitter), looking for a motivational video that you hope and pray will resonate with your team.

We were asked so much that we created a more permanent solution.

And that’s Team Talks.

What are Team Talks?

Team Talks are short, 10-minute-or-less videos to use with your team, focused on mindset, leadership, and performance. They’re evidence-based ideas with stories to capture your team’s heart. Each video comes with an exercise to make the lesson stick. They are used by state, conference, and national champions. We have Team Talks on:

• Adversity

• Accountability

• Teamwork

• Discipline

• Mindset

• Elite Performance

There are currently 18 (the length of a typical season). We will build the library over the next few months to have thirty-six.

Team Talks set you up with the right message at the right time for your team.

And for a limited time, we’re offering them a 25% discount. Get Team Talks today.

The Culture Playbook + Cohorts

Coaches have access to a lot of coaching content. What they lack are systems.

The Culture Playbook is 10 leadership ideas with the exercises you need to install the ideas and culture into your program. It’s the exact system we use to help coaches build their programs around mindset, leadership, and performance. We’ve used it at schools like Oklahoma, Mississippi State, and Florida State.

Since the Culture Playbook was released almost a year ago, nearly 1,000 coaches have purchased and are using it for their programs.

You can get it for your program today.

Culture Playbook Cohorts

We are offering Culture Playbook Cohorts if you’re interested in exploring the Culture Playbook on a deeper level.

We’ve had a few dozen commitments over the last week and aren’t starting with very many cohorts, so reserve your spot today!

Monthly Calls + Powerful Content + Practical Application + Community = Accelerate Your Growth

If interested, simply DM Seth or Kevin on Twitter.