Episodes
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In this episode I speak with senior lecturer in sport and exercise psychology at Staffordshire University, Dr Matt Slater. Matt is an Expert on the psychology of leadership and high performing teams. He is also author of the fantastic book TOGETHERNESS: How to Build a Winning Team in which he shares with readers how to develop team identity through practical ideas and examples.
We speak about team sports; social identity; Reflect, Represent & Realise; shared leadership and the difference between leaders and leadership.
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I have the pleasure of being joined by Dr Kathy Adcock in this episode. Kathy is a clinical psychologist, boxer and England Boxing Level 1 coach. Kathy works as a NHS Clinical Manager, working with parents and young people with a broad range of emotional and relational difficulties. She is also founder and managing director of social enterprise In Your Corner which combines non-contact boxing with evidence-based ideas from psychological intervention within community settings. And it’s mostly this fantastic enterprise that we speak about, specifically finding ways to engage with young people; boxing metaphors for life; the narratives people have about their lives and using sport as a way to become open to being psychologically flexible.
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Episodes manquant?
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I’m speaking with Chris Bryan in this episode. Chris is an Irish International Open Water swimmer, having finished 8th at the world championships. He was the first Irish Open Water swimmer to compete at the European championships. Chris has also completed his PhD in Psychological Resilience and regularly contributes scholarly articles to psychological journals. Chris now manages a swimming academy in Dubai.
We speak about hard work vs talent; intrinsic motivation; getting the most out of athletes; the importance of athletes asking ‘why’; building resilience; sustainable success; proactive effort; positive psychology; predictable and unpredictable adversity; and bouncebackability.
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I have the pleasure of being joined by Martin Bingisser in this episode. Martin holds several positions including National Hammer Throw coach for Swiss Athletics, Throws coach for LC Zürich and Fitness coach for GC Zürich Rugby. He has also worked with USATF, UK Athletics, Scottish Athletics, European Athletics Coaches Association. As an athlete, Martin reached 21st place at the 2014 European Championships and is a 9-time Swiss national champion for hammer throw.
Martin is also founder of HMMR Media, a fantastic coaching resource covering a variety of sports and he has written a book called Training Talk: Conversations with a Dozen Master Coaches - a fantastic read in which Martin sits down with twelve top coaches from track and field, soccer, football, and rugby to share best practices and synthesise what the best do to be so successful. And it’s this book we mainly focus, discussing Martin’s experiences as a coach and an athlete.
We speak about having a work-life balance; the role of confidence in sport psychology; getting feedback from athletes; helping athletes reflect; flow state and the importance of self-improvement as a coach.
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I’m delighted to be speaking with Richard Shorter in this episode. Richard goes into schools and sporting institutions to help them with a parent engagement strategy. He also delivers parent engagement sessions to sporting organisations such as England Rugby, England Hockey and England Cricket helping parents to be reflective of their parenting approach. These engagement sessions are also fantastic for coaches to think about the way in which they engage with their players. Richard has also written the brilliant book ‘Conversations for the Journey - 40 Ways for you to Build Sporting Character’ that offers parents and coaches 40 ways to have conversations around mental skills that move away from “Did you win?”, “Did you score?”, “Were you player of the match?”.
And it's this book we mainly focus on, specifically we speak about child development; asking players questions; getting the best out of character traits; enhancing sideline support and managing behaviours.
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I’m excited to speak with Rugby Sevens coach, Warren Abrahams in this episode. Warren started out playing rugby in South Africa before moving to the UK where he began to focus on coaching. He has since held a series of coaching roles including with London Irish, Harlequins, Lithuania Sevens and England Sevens. He is now coaching the German National Sevens team.
We speak about being a student of the game; developing resilience; multi-sports; the importance of ‘play’; ‘chaotic’ training sessions and the role of psychology in sport.
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I have the pleasure of being joined by Author and Performance Expert, Fergus Connolly in this episode. Fergus started out in the world of sport playing Gaelic football in Ireland and, after having developed an interest in speed, strength, and psychology, was offered a role at Bolton Wanderers. Over the next 15 years he went on to work with Bolton Wanderers, Welsh Rugby, San Francisco 49ers, Michigan Football, Blackburn FC, Liverpool FC and many more teams globally.
Fergus has also written two fantastic books 'Game Changer' and his latest book '59 Lessons: Working with the World's Greatest Coaches, Athletes, & Special Forces'. And it’s this new book that we focus on in this episode. Specifically, we speak about compassionate ruthlessness; interpersonal skills; self-awareness; empowering players, and focusing on what you can control.
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I’m delighted to speak with sport psychologist at Benfica Football Club, Dr Pedro L Almeida in this episode. Pedro has been a sport psychologist at Benfica FC for coming up to 25 years. During this time he has accumulated a wealth of experience working with players of all ages from youth team players through to some of the best players in the world. Pedro is also Assistant Professor at Instituto Universitário in Lisbon.
We speak about the holistic approach to player development that Benfica takes; the importance of helping players have a structure to their thinking; helping players with career transitioning; helping players manage the fame that comes with a first-team contract; having a support team around players from a young age, not just at first team level; and the successful traits of Portuguese managers.
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In this episode I speak with performance psychologist for Blackburn Rovers FC and GB Para Table Tennis, Dr Andy Hill. Andy completed his undergraduate and master degrees in coaching and then went on to do his PhD looking at ‘What makes the elite, elite?’. He works with competitors to help them get the very best out of their ability and with coaches to help increase their understanding of the Psychological Characteristics of Developing Excellence (PCDEs).
We speak about players putting in the effort; psychology underpinning the physical; Psychological Characteristics of Developing Excellence (PCDEs) and helping coaches help players develop skill.
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I’m excited to have assistant coach for the Chicago Red Stars, Gary Curneen on this episode. Gary has held various coaching positions over the years and played collegiate soccer at Wingate University, helping lead the men’s soccer team to their first-ever NCAA Division II playoff berth.
Gary is also founder of the Modern Soccer Coach which aims to create and help develop elite coaches through books, coaching clinics, mentorship programmes, podcasts and webinars. Inspired by players, coaches, and leaders who want to get out of their comfort zone and make an impact, their goal is to give back to the players and coaches who love soccer as much as they do.
We speak about the impact of playing college soccer in the US; overcoming insecurities as a player; learning that there’s more to coaching than x’s and o’s; learning from experience; having a mentor and coming up with innovative ideas to engage players.
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I have the pleasure of being joined by Lauren Abarca - Mental Conditioning Coordinator with the New York Yankees.
Lauren is an experienced soccer player who competed for the University of San Francisco and Point Loma Nazarene University. In this time, she completed her B.A. in Kinesiology with a Minor in Psychology. As a former collegiate athlete Lauren acquired a passion for improving sports performance through mental strengthening. Lauren went on to receive her Master's in Performance Psychology from National University. Lauren continues her passion for improving performance by working with elite level athletes including professional and Olympic.
We speak about psychology in baseball; knowing the individual; personality; the importance of observation; self-awareness; asking the right questions; giving too much feedback and identity.
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In this episode I speak with former Olympic rower, Annie Vernon. Annie is an Olympic silver medallist and two-time World Champion. She is now a respected sports journalist and has just written a fantastic book entitled Mind Games - Determination, Doubt and Lucky Socks: An Insider's Guide to the Psychology of Elite Athletes. Through interviews with leading sports stars and the latest scientific research, Mind Games looks at how elite sports performers harness the power of their mind in pursuit of physical perfection.
We speak about the experience of seeing a sport psychologist; nature vs nurture; ‘talent needs trauma’; conscientiousness; the importance of experience; competitiveness; motivation and mental qualities of elite athletes.
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I have the pleasure of being joined by basketball coach Carly Clarke in this episode. Carly has been the Head Coach of Ryerson Women's Basketball since 2012 and is the Canadian Women's National Team Assistant Coach. Prior to coaching, Carly had a successful college playing career, playing 5 seasons at Bishop’s University. This led to an assistant coaching role at Dalhousie. She then took up her first head coaching role at University of Prince Edward Island.
We speak about champion’s behaviours; coaching through questioning; communication between coach and athlete; athlete ownership; team cohesion; key terms to help manage distraction; learning from a loss and post-training and post-game reflection.
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This week is Clean Sport Week in the UK. Clean Sport week is an initiative run by UKAD (UK Anti-Doping) and is an opportunity to come together and celebrate the important values of clean sport and support the hard work that sport in the UK is doing in the fight against doping. This year the main focus of the week is on Image and Performance Enhancing Drugs (IPEDs), and in particular the use of IPEDs within the gym environment. I am joined by sport psychology consultant Dr Claire-Marie Roberts to discuss all things psychology and drug use in sport.
Claire-Marie holds an academic position at the University of the West of England and works for the Premier League in coach and football manager development. She also sits of the board of UKAD.
We speak about the motivations behind IPED use; normalising the use of IPEDs; the prevalence of IPEDs; social identity and breaking the cycle of IPED use.
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In this episode I speak with chartered occupational psychologist, Sarah Broadhead. Sarah is currently the GB Taekwondo team psychologist and has worked with a range of sports – British Swimming, GB Canoeing, Archery GB, UK Athletics, GB Triathlon, Formula 3 motor racing, European Tour golfers, a world champion 800m runner and CG gold medal winning mountain biker. Sarah was part of the Director team that created Chimp Management with Prof Steve Peters in 2013, shaping the vision of the company. She now has her own company which gives individuals and organisations in sport and business the insight, skills and support they need to perform and thrive.
We speak about Compassion Focused Therapy; the complexities of the brain; understanding why the brain does what it does; the differences between the adult and adolescent brain; understanding why someone is doing what they’re doing; ownership; normalising feelings; role modelling; motivation; developing a positive inner voice; and threat, drive and compassion.
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I’m delighted to be joined by one of the world’s leading sport and performance psychologists in this episode - Dr Andrea Furst. Andrea currently works with Surrey cricket and GB and England Hockey as well as having her own consultancy. She has been involved in 4 Olympic and para-Olympic games, specifically in Australian sprint canoe-kayak, 100m hurdles, long jump, triathlon, as well as sailing and swimming for Singapore. Andrea was psychologist to the gold medal winning Great Britain women’s hockey team in Rio 2016.
We speak about cultural differences in sport and in athletes; working with Olympic teams as a sport psychologist; the importance of not being results focused; talking about failure as well as success; identity; vulnerability and the characteristics of great coaches.
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I have the pleasure of being joined by David White in this episode. David is a public speaker, national learning facilitator, consultant and performance coach. He has recently released a fascinating book called Superstitionism - The Psychology of Sport which looks at the role superstition plays for athletes in all sports the world over. And it’s this book we focus on during our discussion, specifically: superstition as a belief system; the impact of ‘lucky’ boots; why athletes have superstitions; the ‘actual truth’ vs the ‘awful truth’; luck vs chance and probability; self-talk; law of attraction and superstitions as a source of comfort.
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I'm joined by coaching expert, speaker, educator and author Coach Reed Maltbie in this episode. Reed is the founder of Raising Excellence, a company working with educators, coaches, parents, athletes, and sports leaders to develop more effective sports participation models.
Previously Chief Content Officer and Lead Presenter for the Changing the Game Project, Reed has been coaching excellence beyond the game for 26 years and has become an internationally respected expert on youth sports. He has also authored articles and presented webinars on communication, culture, bullying, competitive mindset, skill acquisition.
We speak about peak performances; removing fear; competency; the importance of feeling valued; the significance of significance; allowing players to explore and coaches being afraid of change.
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In this episode I’m speaking with inspirational consultant, coach and facilitator Paul Z Jackson. Paul devises and runs training courses and development programmes in change, strategy, leadership, teamwork, performance improvement and innovation and he’s actually been a big influence on my career since I attended one of his courses back in 2005.
Paul’s Solutions Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) courses have led hundreds of people and organisations through positive processes of change. And in this podcast, we focus on SFBT, specifically we speak about focusing on solutions not problems; what confidence looks like; scaling; learning from success; drawing attention to the things that players are doing well and using clear not complicated language.
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I have the pleasure of being joined by Dr Mustafa Sarkar and Clara Swedlund.
Mustafa is Senior Lecturer in Sport and Exercise Psychology at Nottingham Trent University. His background is in teaching and research with most of his research focusing on the psychology of sporting and performance excellence, specifically looking at resilience in high achievers in sport and business. Mustafa works with coaches and organisations helping them to develop resilience in athletes and teams.
Clara is currently undertaking her Masters degree in Sport and Exercise Psychology at Loughborough University. Clara competes as a body builder and talks about how she applies the techniques she studies to her training and competitive mindset. She also runs a blog that documents her journey to becoming a qualified sport psychologist and on it, she wrote a blog post that was based on an article Mustafa had co-written about resilience which is why they’ve come together on the Sport Psych Show.
We look at what resilience is; personality characteristics; the significance of environment; high challenge, high support environments; Cognitive Behavioural Theory (CBT) and psychological safety.
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