The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 6 plus 3 plus 4 letter word RAISES HIS GAME
I've seen this crossword clue in The Daily Telegraph
R
A
I
S
E
S
H
I
S
G
A
M
E
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "gives improved performance" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case gives improved performance = raises his game.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.