Posts by Matthew Green
The window Arsenal struggles to close
Arsenal lost 3 matches in 3 weeks, each decided in the same 20-minute window. The Certainty Deficit explains why.
Read MoreWhy the Quad God Choked at the Olympics and Won Worlds Five Weeks Later
Ilia Malinin, the “Quad God”, scored 329 at Worlds and 156 at the Olympics. Five weeks apart. Same body. Same jumps. The Certainty Deficit explains why the Quad God delivered in one and collapsed in the other.
Read MoreThe Kick His Body Won’t Let Him Take
Manie Libbok kicked 73% for the Stormers. 58% in a Springbok jersey. Coach Rassie Erasmus spent two years engineering around the problem. The Certainty Deficit remained after all of it.
Read MoreThe Pattern I Couldn’t Unsee
Ten years ago I watched the world’s leading try scorer drop the ball over the tryline with a World Cup record in his hands. His body had already decided where he sat. Alongside the record. Never above it. Everyone saw what happened. I could see why.
Read More22 Sets Without Dropping One. Then She Dropped the Final.
Aryna Sabalenka lost the 2025 Australian Open final and said she’d fix her mental game. She came back in 2026 but lost the final again. After the match she said her mentality was “much better than last year.” If the mental game improved and the collapse still happened, the thing that collapsed isn’t mental.
Read MoreSeven Wins. Then This.
South Africa went into the T20 World Cup semi-final unbeaten in seven matches. They’d thrashed India by 76 runs. Then 12 for 2 after two overs. Head coach Shukri Conrad called it a walloping, not a choke. He’s right about one thing: choking tells you what happened. It tells you nothing about why.
Read MoreEnergy flows where attention goes
Recent events including the old South African flag and the New York incident prompted me to remember the importance of where my attention is and what am I focusing on.
Read MoreGratitude for the work
Here’s some lovely feedback on the mind coaching work we do at 5th Place. Certain parts have been edited for brevity and anonymity.
Read MoreThe Wellbeing Economy
I was fortunate enough to have an opportunity to meet the incredible and dynamic Lorenzo Fioramonti at a Partners for Possibility alumni event.
Read MoreSpring day dance off
It was fortunate for me that Spring day – 1 September – and my weekly Friday visit to Emseni Primary School coincided. As part of the fund raising activities the school was holding a dance off.
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