Alignment Unlocks Decision Making

One of the most powerful tools for unlocking great in-game decision making is something you won’t find on a stat sheet: alignment. When all the major mental skills—Confidence, Focus, Energy, Motivation, Grit, Resilience, Growth Mindset, and Decision Making—are dialed in and working together, something special happens. Athletes find themselves thinking less and playing more. They move into what we call the optimal performance zone, where decision making becomes fast, fluid, and instinctual.

Let’s break it down. When you’ve trained your motivation to be consistent and purpose-driven, built a growth mindset that thrives on learning, developed grit to keep going, and established resilience to bounce back from setbacks, you’ve created the foundation for confident, fearless decision making. These foundational traits support your ability to rise above pressure and competition.

Then we layer in the performance-based mental skills: confidence that lets you trust your preparation, focus that keeps your attention in the moment, and energy control that lets you find the right intensity for every scenario. These tools clear the interference that often clouds your judgment. Now, decisions come more naturally because your mind is ready to respond without overthinking.

But when any of these are off—when your focus is scattered, your confidence shaken, or your energy erratic—decision making suffers. Poor decisions often don’t come from a lack of skill, but from a mind that isn’t aligned. And just like a car with a misaligned steering wheel, even a slight drift can pull you off course.

As Dr. Keith Henschen put it,

“High performance only occurs when the mind is liberated from the analytical processing of information and free to enjoy the execution of automatic responses in an effortless and pleasurable fashion.”

This quote captures the essence of what we’re aiming for: not thinking too much, but trusting the system you’ve built. When your mental skills are aligned, you free up your brain to make decisions on instinct—exactly what you need when the game is moving fast.

This is why we train mental skills. So that when the moment comes, you don’t have to think—you just perform.

This is Mental Strength.

For Players:

• Reflect on which of the 8 areas you feel strong in and which ones you need to develop.

• Practice mental alignment by running through your pregame checklist: Are you confident? Focused? Calm or energized at the right level?

• When decision making feels slow or off, it might not be your physical skills—check your mental alignment.

For Coaches:

• Observe when players’ decision making drops and use it as a cue to assess where their mindset is breaking down.

• Design drills that challenge both mental and physical execution under pressure.

• Teach athletes to review their alignment as part of pregame prep.

For Parents:

• Support your athlete by helping them build consistent routines that promote calm, confidence, and focus.

• Celebrate effort and progress in mindset, not just outcomes.

• Encourage discussions about what mental skill they’re developing—not just the physical ones.