The Talent Equation Podcast

A few days ago I became another year older!!Like lost of us of a certain age, these events are greeted with a mixture of happiness (as my wife and children give me some lovely presents and spoil me a bit) and despair (at the relentless march of time!!). This year was all good and was made even better by the fact that 3 of my good friends in the world of coaching and children's sport took time out of their schedules to join me for a chat about all of the things that we are all so passionate about. What a brilliant way to spend my birthday...I hope you enjoy the discussion!!Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-talent-equation-podcast--2186775/support.

By popular demand....Mark Bennett is back!In this episode we discuss how you define excellence with athletes and the process of reviewing to maximise influence with players. We get into a lot of detail on this one and get deep exploring this very important aspect of performance coaching. In the episode we cover...- Maximising the impact of our time with players - How to make ourselves redundant by enabling the players to lead themselves - Using 'The rule of 3' to transition players to full ownership of their learning environment - Establishing unacceptable, acceptable and exceptional behaviours and actions as a guide for creating a performance culture - A framework to guide players self review processThis is a meaty one!!Enjoy If you would like these podcasts beamed into your inbox sign up for the newsletter and never miss an episode http://www.thetalentequation.co.uk/sign-up-for-our-newsletterBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-talent-equation-podcast--2186775/support.

Nick Ruddock is a busy guy! He is travelling all across the world providing coaching advice and coach education for gymnastics clubs and global federations. He is widely regarded as one of the leading coaches in his field but his journey is not a typical one. In this episode we discuss...- How he spent £8,000 on his initial coach education - Why he thinks that coaches should own their own learning and stop waiting for the system to feed them- Why coaches are magnetised to learning all the wrong things- Why he thinks that the UK underachieves when it comes to talent development - His views on talent transfer and how more coaches should let go of their ego and enable their athletes to progress There is plenty to get stuck into here...EnjoyBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-talent-equation-podcast--2186775/support.

Dan Cottrell is an extremely experienced coach with over 25 years at the coal face. He has been writing and discussing coaching for over a decade as the editor of Rugby Coach Weekly, an online magazine for rugby coaches which has allowed him to learn from some of the game's best practitioners. Dan came to the podcast with a specific question about the best way to coach kids when there is an element of safety that needs to be attended to. Needless to say...we didn't stay entirely on topic but the conversation was richer for it. In the podcast we cover...- Why Dan believes that children shouldn't play organised sport younger than age 10- How he uses 'free time' to enable children to truly 'play' without adult intervention- How he uses games to let children learn key movements - Intervention strategies to guide learning and ensure safety- Insights from some of the worlds best coaches and coach developersThis is a conversation rich with information for those trying to improve what they do on a weekend with youngsters as well as having significant implications for those working in talent environments. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-talent-equation-podcast--2186775/support.

Dr Ian Renshaw discusses his constraints led approach to skill development in sports, including his son's journey to representing his country. He critiques competition in kids sport, coach education, and emphasizes the need for coaches to allow children to fully explore their skill potential.

A slight change of pace in this episode. I am joined by regular contributor, Nick Levett who unloads his brain with me on all manner of topics related to the youth port experience. In this episode we cover: - What is the point of coaching for kids? Is it actually doing them any good? - Is adult risk aversion ruining play for children.- Why formal competition for youngsters should be banned.- Why adult conceptions of what should feature in a child's sport experience may be destroying their enjoyment and harming their chances of progression. - Practical methods to enable children to develop skills through games using an approach called 'Playperation' And so much more....Hope you enjoyPlease join the debate at http://www.thetalentequation.co.uk/sign-up-for-our-newsletterBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-talent-equation-podcast--2186775/support.

Alan Keane coaches the England boys U18 basketball team. Alan Keane has been on a journey! I know it's a cliche but if ever the phrase was applicable it with Alan. In this remarkably honest and refreshingly candid conversation Alan shares his transformation from being a coach that only cared about results, tactics, techniques and compliance to becoming a coach that cares about the person, their learning, their development and their ownership of the process of development. Highlights from the discussion include: - Alan's developmental journey and how he has a 'triangle of influences' that guide his learning. - How he had to get more vulnerable than he thought possible to expand his horizons- How he called a time out and only said 3 words "talk to me"- How letting the players guide their timeouts led to transformational insights (from the quietest player on the team)- His experiences of taking what he had learned into his work environment as a teacher and the unbelievable results for the teachers and the pupilsThere is so much in this podcast...I challenge you to take it all in in one sitting!!EnjoyBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-talent-equation-podcast--2186775/support.

Joe Baker is a professor at the school of kinesiology and life sciences at York University in Toronto, Canada. He is one of the most respected and well published researchers in the field of expertise, talent development and lifelong physical activity. In 2013 Joe was a key player in contributing to a the creation of a consensus statement on talent for English Rugby. This document went on to become a central pillar in bringing about a lot of change throughout the talent system for young rugby players in England. In this fascinating conversation we cover a lot of ground including...- Joe's take on the 10,000 hours of deliberate practice debate.- His theory that deliberate practice may assist in the talent identification process. - How 'confirmation bias' can affect our decision making and leave talented athletes deselected.- His surprising research that shows that experienced coaches aren't necessarily better than ordinary people at identifying talent.- Why he doesn't have much time for coaches that think that they "know a player when they see one".- Why he thinks professional leagues should stop throwing money away at talent ID and start investing in intellectual capital to make people better at itJoe can be found on Twitter at @bakerjyorkuEnjoy the showBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-talent-equation-podcast--2186775/support.

Nick Hill is probably one of the most committed coaches to his personal development that I have ever met. His quest for continuous improvement has taken him to all corners of the globe from Brisbane, to Canterbury to Chile and the US. If coaching expertise was measured in air miles then this guy has to be in the premier league! Nick's career has seen him working in talent environments for most of his career and his dedication to his craft really shines through in this episode. In this conversation we discuss...- How being coached by Brian Ashton while representing England U19s was a turning point in his career. Driving him to become a coach and do it better than he had done before. - His journey from being a drill based, instructional coach to a players centred, game based coach. - How he overcame the language barrier while working in Chile by tapping into the 'language of rugby'- His methods for getting buy in from groups of players. - How he allows techniques to develop by being patient and using clever practice design. - The challenges of introducing a new set of players to his approach and how he overcomes negative responses. Happy listeningBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-talent-equation-podcast--2186775/support.

This is the first in a series of 7 mini podcasts that I will be rolling out over the next few weeks 'in between' the main feature episodes. This episode looks at the role that compteition plays in stifling teh development of talent.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-talent-equation-podcast--2186775/support.