The Talent Equation Podcast
Stuart Armstrong
The Talent Equation podcast is an 'exploration in human advancement'... mostly (but not exclusively) through the lens of sport and physical activity. Each episode is an 'emergent conversation' with practitioners, parents, researchers, authors (or some combination of all three) taking a deep dive into the ways that people can help others to enhance their developmental journey in whatever field they are committed to. These conversations are not mainstream - you will not hear ideas that are provided on standard education courses - they often fly in the face of convention - they will sometimes be controversial and provocative - the show is about doing things differently and doing different things. The people who come on the show are innovators - they are trying to break new ground or swim against the tide of what they see as a broken culture or an ineffective system - what they say will prompt new thinking or new ideas. All that is asked of the listener is to embrace the conversation with an open mind.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-talent-equation-podcast--2186775/support.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Sep 26, 2022 • 36min
Dog Walk Diary - why Ecological approaches are better.
Some thoughts about a question that was posed to me recently as to how you can justify using a non linear / ecological approach to coaching.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-talent-equation-podcast--2186775/support.
Aug 3, 2022 • 1h 26min
"I get funny looks from people about some of the things that I do..." - a conversation with Dr Tom Parry
Dr. Tom Parry is the founder and owner of Kestrel Performance Psychology. He has a Ph.D. in Human Performance from Indiana University with specializations in Skill Acquisition and Psychology.He wears many hats including Professor, Father, Coach and Consultant. These roles have blessed him with a detailed understanding of human behaviour from various perspectives and the nuanced nature of performance.Tom and I get into the weeds to explore how we can connect the wider coaching world with some of the counter intuitive aspects of non linear pedagogy. It was a great opportunity to reconnect with some of these ideas and explore the way Tom thinks about coaching and skill development. Listen to the end to find out about how to play 'Zombie Tag'. https://kestrelpsychology.wixsite.com/kestrelpsychologyBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-talent-equation-podcast--2186775/support.
Jul 6, 2022 • 1h 45min
"Having an average or good culture takes a lot of work...having a great culture is much easier" - a conversation with JP Nurbun
JP Nurbun makes a welcome return to the podcast. JP is a fellow podcaster as host of 'The Coaching Culture' podcast. He is also an author, his first book 'Calling Up' was a real hit and I really enjoyed it. This time round he has gone one better having written 'The Culture System' which is fascinating. In this conversation we delve into some of the key elements of The Culture System and unpack them to get to grips with how they are applied and who applies them. It's a super powerful conversation that I took a lot away from. I hope you do tooJP's podcast - https://www.podbean.com/podcast-detail/k2pt3-6258f/Coaching-Culture-PodcastJP's book - https://www.myculturesystem.com/Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-talent-equation-podcast--2186775/support.
Jun 29, 2022 • 1h 40min
"Keeping the balloon in the air" - a conversation with Dan Lycett and Ross Williams from St David's College
Dan Lycett and Ross Williams are on the PE staff at St David's College in LLandudno in North Wales. They have been very public in sharing their approach to PE and school sport with the world and have been very active in creating learning spaces for other practitioners. In this conversation we delve into the alternative approach that they take to increase engagement in PE and school sport by turning the curriculum on it's head and working backwards from a child centred approach. The results speak for themselves as I hope you will agree from the discussion.Link to my conversation with Stephen Rollnick about Motivational Interviewing https://www.spreaker.com/episode/20445243Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-talent-equation-podcast--2186775/support.
Jun 21, 2022 • 1h 29min
Exploring coach development 'lasagne' - a conversation with Kirsten Wing and Will Roberts
Will Roberts makes a welcome return to the podcast joined by a colleague at University of Gloucester, Kirsten Wing. You will remember Will from a previous podcast talking about the fantastic programme called 'Boing' which is looking to take an ecological approach to the development of movement for children.Kirsten has been studying the effect of Boing on coaching practice and on the way that children have responded to the approach with some fascinating findings - not least of which the link between the digital space and the physical space. I invited them on to talk me through it and explore some of the real world ramifications, it's a really interesting conversation that I really enjoyed...I hope you will too. Link to the research report here https://www.researchgate.net/publication/360561628_Operationalising_Physical_Literacy_Boing_Practitioner_Education_Programme_Technical_ReportBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-talent-equation-podcast--2186775/support.
Jun 14, 2022 • 55min
The pro's and con's of streaming - a conversation with Greg Clements
Greg Clements is a friend and a colleague. Greg has worked at Sport England for more than 12 years in various roles and he reached out to me because he has been coaching a football team which his son is involved in and they have reached a cross roads in deciding how to group the teams for next year. Having done a bit of research within the sports world he found very little to help shape thinking so he reached out to me for a conversation and he was good enough to let me record it. It's a really interesting area and one that affects a lot of coaches so I hope that you get something out of it.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-talent-equation-podcast--2186775/support.
May 28, 2022 • 1h 22min
"If a horse (or a child) can't say no...saying yes is meaningless" - a conversation with Mia Palles-Clark (and Marianne Davies)
Mia Palles-Clark is a British show jumping coach and coach developer. She is the England Home Pony Team Chef d'Equipe and the British Army team coach and was awarded British Show jumping coach of the year in 2017.I am joined by my co host Marianne Davies from UK Coaching and Dynamics Coaching https://dynamics-coaching.com/home/marianne-davies/ to explore the cross over between the equestrian world and the human world. In this conversation we explore how humans treat children and horses in the same way by robbing them of agency and choice about what happens to them in the sporting arena. We delve into some common practices and beliefs from the equestrian world and discover some startling parallels with the youth sport domain. This is a 'simulcast' with Marianne's new podcast project 'The River Tiger Podcast' be sure to check it out. https://open.spotify.com/show/3aS0XlrTdt5Pn4nLeSw1ig?fbclid=IwAR2YiYbtocoIrCOJr0qvEZ1PfdykZ-kM9ghDAV6VeFepYuPbIZtj4b1fjdIBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-talent-equation-podcast--2186775/support.
May 16, 2022 • 29min
Dog Walk Diary - How to think about inclusive talent environments
It’s so challenging to have conversations with other coaches or parents about what your approach to creating participation opportunities could or should be. Should be be inclusive, should focus on outcomes, should you prioritise development. In this ‘think aloud’ audio blog I share a framework for thinking about this that might help to clarify thinking and make for more productive conversations.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-talent-equation-podcast--2186775/support.
May 11, 2022 • 19min
Dog Walk Diary - Developing passing
Sharing some thoughts about a session I ran trying to explore how to improve passing in a group of players. Some mistakes I made and what you can learn from them.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-talent-equation-podcast--2186775/support.
Apr 28, 2022 • 1h 21min
"Everyone was looking at the problem through their own 'ology goggles' " - a conversation with Ian Brunnschweiler & Mark Jarvis
Ian Brunnschweiler is a Head of Technical Development at Southampton football club, he is a friend of the show and a previous podcast guest. Dr Mark Jarvis, is making his debut, he is High Performance Manager at the club and his previous experiences were with the English Institute of Sport where he had the role of Director of Performance Solutions. They join me to share insights on the holistic way that Southampton go about coaching, player development rooted in the principles of Ecological Dynamics. They also share some insights from the new project that they have launched called the 'Learning Lab' which is committed to intentionally studying the impact of ecological approaches on their ability to support player development. It's a really fascination and open discussion about working in a talent development environment with loads of insights that are applicable in any developmental context.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-talent-equation-podcast--2186775/support.
