The PERFORMA Method
Six right answers.
Performance that still won’t take off.
This method exists for one specific reason: too many athletes with strong support from competent professionals still fail to progress. Everyone does their part well. No one sets the order.
One problem can have several causes. One constraint can create several problems.
An athlete is recovering poorly. The training load is reduced. Three weeks later, recovery is still poor — and three weeks have been lost.
The load was not the problem. It was simply the only place anyone had looked. Restricted breathing, unstable digestion, an old injury the body is still protecting: each can slow recovery, and none appears in a training plan.
Why separate answers are no longer enough
Six right answers can still produce the wrong result.
Everyone is right within their own field and works on their piece of the puzzle. No one looks at what happens between the pieces. The effort is considerable. The result is almost negligible.
assessment
PERFORMA works on what happens between the answers already given.
A systems perspective
Nothing takes priority by default.
These are the seven dimensions we examine. None takes priority by principle: which one matters depends on your history and the stage of your season.
Integrated assessment
What happens during the initial assessment.
An in-depth conversation that goes further back than the current symptom: old injuries, what has already been tried, what worked for a while and then stopped. The decisive information is often what no one had thought to ask about.
- In-depth interview and functional observation
- Targeted questionnaires where needed
- Specialist testing only when justified
- Consideration of the calendar and sporting environment
From signal to priority
How the decision is made.
Four steps. Each produces something specific, and each can be challenged by how your system responds.
Integrated assessment
Everything previously observed in isolation is brought together, in the order it happened. The timeline reveals connections that no standalone assessment can show.
Objective: make visible the connections that separate analyses miss.
Dominant constraint
A hypothesis: the factor that currently draws on the most resources and sustains compensation patterns. It is formulated to be tested, not taken on faith.
Objective: avoid spreading effort across ten secondary levers.
Setting the priority
Four decisions: what we work on now, what waits, what we monitor and what belongs with another professional.
Objective: focus resources where they can create the greatest change.
Coordination & follow-up
We observe how your system responds. If the hypothesis holds, we continue. If it does not, we see it quickly and revise it — that is why we set a criterion for testing it.
Objective: build lasting progress and your independence.
No standard protocol
The method determines the tools. Never the reverse.
These are the areas of expertise we can draw on. None is used simply because it is available: each must serve an identified purpose within the priority defined above.
If an intervention has no clearly identified purpose, we do not use it. That is also how we protect your time.
He develops the initial hypothesis and takes responsibility for it throughout.
She handles everything off the field that consumes the energy performance demands.
A clear framework
What PERFORMA does — and does not do.
- Connect information usually addressed in isolation
- Formulate a coherent working hypothesis
- Identify an intervention priority
- Build and adapt an individual strategy
- Coordinate expertise where needed
- Refer to a healthcare professional when the situation requires it
- Make a medical diagnosis
- Replace a doctor, physiotherapist or other healthcare professional
- Promise the same outcome for everyone
- Apply a protocol based on an isolated symptom
- Ask you to stop medical treatment
- Work beyond its scope of expertise
Knowing what we do not do lets us make faster decisions about what we do.
When this approach becomes relevant
When the effort is there, but progress still isn’t.
If you recognise yourself in two of these situations, the PERFORMA framework is likely to have something to offer.
- Your performance becomes inconsistent without an obvious explanation.
- You perform well in training, but struggle to access that ability under pressure.
- Your recovery no longer matches your training load.
- Several symptoms appear or return at the same time.
- Each intervention helps for a few weeks, then the problem returns.
- Several professionals are involved without a genuinely shared understanding.
A confidential first conversation
Before adding anything, let’s look at what is already in place.
A conversation to understand your situation, assess whether this framework is the right fit and define the next step. If it is not, we will tell you.
Strict confidentiality · Individual support · International coordination available