Carl Woods

This week my guest is Dr Carl Woods who is a Senior Research Fellow in Skill Acquisition at Victoria University in Melbourne Australia who enjoys exploring and knowing at an ecological anthropological intersection in sport.I had heard Carl on a number of podcasts and was so excited to be able to spend some time listening to his view on the world which I have to say I love.There is no real intro on the chat as we hit the ground running and just got straight in to it. I am very grateful to be able to do this podcasts and have such great guests and a loyal community, if you listen often I just want to say thank you and I hope you enjoy them as much as I love doing them.Send us a textSupport the showhttps://talkingperformancepod.com/

Professor Carl Woods discusses knowledge, guidance, and experiential learning in sports and education. He emphasizes direct experiences in understanding the world and challenges traditional academic standards. The conversation extends to the importance of diverse interests for high-level athletes and the human-centric approach in sports science.

For those of us residing in a society that prioritizes; productivity, extraction, speed, and efficiency, this episode of the Run Culture Podcast is a must listen! ."....certain non-western societies don't use the adjectives; efficient, rapid or fast, as words to describe expert performance, they actually use words like; cautious, slow, attentiveness and responsiveness. These slower adjectives are used to describe what it means to be an expert hunter...." They understand the idea of uncertainty, they take time to attend to the rich contextual ebbs and flows of information in front of them and they patiently wait for the right moment to act. I chatted to Dr Carl Woods a scientist and researcher at Victoria University in Melbourne who enjoys exploring the concepts of; learning, knowing and skill from an ecological and anthropological lens in sport. We discuss: -That we live in the 'information age', where there is an excess of 'second hand information' everywhere, we have a test for this a test for that, a strategy for this and all this tech spitting out all kinds of data...Universities teach courses in siloed and reduced methods and reward an encyclopedic like recall of information as expertise... Yes, 'second hand information' can be useful...but I am also seeing a lot of un-embodied/disconnected and disempowered runners as a result. -The importance of 'inhabitant knowledge'.....which is gained through exposure and 'primary experience', this can't simply be replaced by 'second hand information' eg. what a textbook/test or Instagram post says. -Embracing 'uncertainty' and 'the wisdom of not knowing', 'Being prepare but not planned' -Slow down and attend to the environment around you, be a 'wayfinder'. -What defines mastery/a skilled performer or expert? ....the humility to say; 'I don't know' or 'I am unsure', openness, lots of exposure to a certain environment and context, to resonate with their surrounds, to 'look, feel, hear and smell' better, to know what to pay attention to- what to 'stretch towards' and when to 'wait' and be patient.

The guests on this episode are Damian Farrow, Alex Lascu, Derek Panchuk, and Carl Woods. They discuss the shift from coach as instructor to coach designer, the challenges of 'hands-off' coaching, the importance of understanding skill acquisition theory, and the need for a consistent purpose across different coaching disciplines.

Martin Camiré, a professor specializing in higher education, and Carl Woods, a sport scientist focused on coach education, dive deep into the transformative potential of education. They challenge traditional models, advocating for experiential learning and the importance of peer collaboration. Their conversation touches on navigating uncertainty, the need for systemic change post-COVID, and the role of organic dialogue in fostering connections. The duo passionately explores how to rethink knowledge transfer, urging educators to embrace diversity and critical thinking in their approaches.