Welcome to Circle-In We provide simple systems and tools to help coaches maximize their team’s performative potential. We work off the formula: Performance = Hard skill potential - behavioral friction. Whether you call it culture, chemistry, behavioral dynamics, or cohesion

Two coaches recently asked me how I thought the Hoosiers managed to produce the season they did. My honest answer was: I don’t know. What I do know is that it required a very specific and unrepeatable assemblage of hardware (the players, their skills, and the capacities they

Liverpool FC lost their last 2 games (and to Manchester United, which hurt like words can’t describe). Virgil van Dijk (Captain) called a private player meeting (no coach). Only the players know what was discussed. They came out on Wed (3 days after losing to MU) and beat

Coaching staff often focus on direct instruction and intervention to influence collective team behavior. This post explores how by shifting coaching attention from controlling behaviors to designing environments, they create conditions that naturally elicit desired behaviors.

Sports teams are more than rosters. They are dynamic relational systems. A basketball coach isn't just developing five starting athletes they're cultivating ten distinct relational connections. As team size grows, relational density increases exponentially. A ten-player team

Ground rules shape team culture from the inside out. The best teams don't just have talented individuals they have shared agreements that create alignment, accountability, and resilience. Coaches who help teams co-create and adjust their own ground rules build stronger, more

Every coach knows when their team isn't clicking. They can feel the effects but not the causal process. This invisible dynamic is robbing your team’s hard skill potential. Subtle frictions are hiding in plain sight. Team dynamics aren't a performance supplement but an always-on

Dr. Carron's groundbreaking research reveals that team cohesion isn't just feel-good "team spirit". It's a performance multiplier with measurable components. But there's a twist: the social faultlines that naturally form between player subgroups can either strengthen or undermine

Too often, hidden behavioral dysfunctions like trust, poor communication, or unchecked egos quietly undermine team will, motivation, energy, identity, and performative potential. Coaches spend significant time developing hard skills only for their efforts to be undermined by

Player differences nested within every sports teams roster create invisible faultlines or subgroups that both enhance performance potential and heighten the chances of behavioral friction. Faultline states constantly shape team chemistry both in the positive and negative. In this

It’s often argued that team chemistry and behavioral dynamics are crucial to sports team performance, but can we actually measure these intangible factors? At Circle-In, we set out to explore this question through a rigorous pilot study in the summer of 2024, focusing on two

Sports teams are built on difference. It's both their strength and their challenge. ⚡️ Not all differences are born equal and neatly isolated. Left under-managed, differences fuel behavioral frictions that compromise performance potential. https://t.co/mus1Galz9O

We often hear that team chemistry is impossible to measure. Read this fascinating article by @Worville that dives into the concept of "fault lines"—natural divisions within teams based on factors like age, nationality, and language. Research shows that teams with more overlaps

At Circle-In, we provide coaches and players with simple tools to eliminate the behavioral friction that stops your team from performing at its potential. Our approach is based on the following beliefs, ideas, and principles: 📌 Performance = Hard skill potential - behavioral

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