Hinchcliffe believes a similar transformation has taken place at Everton in recent months - although this time it has not needed a change of management.
"Uncertainty always has an impact on a side," explains Hinchcliffe.
"When Howard went it affected the players. And then when Mike Walker came in there was a sense of 'Does he really know what he is doing?'
"I remember after losing 4-0 at Manchester City Dave Watson told Mike that what we were doing in training wasn't good enough.
"It came as a shock to Mike, but it was what we were all thinking.
"This is no disrespect to Howard Kendall or Mike Walker, but Joe Royle and Willie Donachie seemed to put more thought into training.
"It was very tough physically when Joe first came in but as players you could see an improvement straight away.
"You soon become accustomed to working harder and doing different things if you can see the results on a Saturday. David Moyes seems to have tapped into that, which is hard to do.
"But once you have cracked that you build up momentum because as players you are looking forward to training every Monday morning.
"If players realise the work is benefiting them, they will keep on going no matter how tough it is. They stop thinking of training as some kind of punishment.
"Moyes clearly understands his players and what makes them tick and he is getting the rewards now because of it."
As a result, last weekend's resolute display was a far cry from the game on the final day of last season.
That improvement was achieved despite all the things going on at the club in recent months.
"I remember speaking to people about the game against City at the end of last season and everybody was saying how appalling Everton had been," recalls Hinchcliffe.
"But I was very impressed last weekend. The side had more energy than City but they were also mentally very strong after going down to 10 men.
"That comes from the sale of players and the trouble in the boardroom will not get to a squad if they are happy with the work they are doing every day at Bellefield.
