Consistency through Variability

Many still believe that “perfecting” the same movement through endless drill repetitions will help athletes replicate these skills under competitive pressure. This often backfires because competition is anything but predictable. Athletes face constantly changing variables—opponents’ strategies, weather, playing surfaces, and their own fluctuating mental and physical states. Therefore, when the game doesn’t match what they’ve rehearsed, they’re often unprepared to adapt since their training has not equipped them to handle such variability.

It may seem counterintuitive, but the key to achieving consistent performance in sports lies in embracing inconsistency during practice. However, the idea of training with variability often faces resistance, as many argue that it undermines the development of “muscle memory”, leads to poor fundamentals, and risks creating inconsistency in skill execution (especially for closed-skill dominant sports such as bowling, wushu and golf).

What evidence do we have for making this claim?

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The Paradox of Perfect Practice

Consistency in sports performance isn’t achieved by striving for perfection but by embracing adaptability through training that reflects the unpredictable nature of competition. Rather than chasing a perfect, repeatable technique, athletes build true consistency by learning to adjust their movements based on the demands of the moment. The following examples illustrate practical ways to incorporate variability into training to help athletes develop robust skills.

P.S. Rather than looking only at the example from your sport, explore examples from other sports too—doing so can offer fresh perspectives and inspire creative ways to incorporate variability into your own athletes’ training, helping them develop adaptability and consistency across diverse contexts.

Less of…	More of…
Track and Field: Focusing exclusively on achieving a perfect stride or jump in ideal conditions (i.e., jumps and hurdles).	Training in different weather conditions/times of the day or after varying levels of exertion, to adapt to competition factors like wind, temperature, and fatigue.
Wrestling and Martial Arts: Relying on static drilling of techniques with the same partner or alone.	Practicing from different angles, sparring with partners of varying sizes, and varying training intensity to prepare for dynamic and unpredictable matches.
Golf: Training at the indoor range indoors with repetitive block drills.	Training under diverse conditions, including different weather, varying targets, and distances, to adapt to unpredictable course elements like wind and terrain.
Boccia and Lawn Bowls: Practicing for perfect accuracy in unchanging and predictable conditions.	Simulating competition conditions by adjusting distance, using different types of balls, or practicing under time constraints to improve decision-making under pressure.
Soccer and most territorial invasion sports: Repeating predictable drills in controlled environments without accounting for the chaotic nature of a live match.	Practicing with varied drills, such as small-sided games, random ball placements, or fluctuating intensity levels (e.g., varying size of practice areas), to improve adaptability to unpredictable game situations.

Please share your thoughts about the examples above and I would also love to hear about your creative attempts at incorporating variability into your practice design.

Coach Hansen

Part 3: Unlocking the Superpowers…

As performers become more acquainted with the three principles—Control Your Controllables, Confidence Follows Competence, and Focus Leads Your Performance—the superpowers of Self-awareness, Gratitude, and Kindness naturally emerge.

For example, as performers consistently apply Control Your Controllables, they become more aware of their emotional triggers and habitual reactions during competition. A practitioner can then underline how Self-awareness enhances this principle by helping performers recognise when they are fixating on uncontrollable factors, such as an opponent’s performance or a referee’s call. By noticing these patterns, they can consciously redirect their focus toward what they can control—such as their breathing, focus routines, or tactical adjustments—allowing for more composed and effective performance. Self-awareness also helps them tap into their innate confidence by recognizing areas of growing competence (Confidence Follows Competence) and redirecting attention toward task-relevant cues (Focus Leads Performance) during high-pressure moments.

By now, you’ve seen how Self-awareness enhances the three principles by helping performers recognize and manage their internal responses. As I expand on Gratitude and Kindness, I encourage you to think about how these superpowers might also amplify the principles, and how they could transform a performer’s approach to challenges and growth.

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