This week’s guest is one of the most outstanding athletes ever, Mike Powell. Mike has held the long jump world record for the last 30 years, taking the mark from the legendary Bob Beamon - who held it himself for 23  years. The record stands at 8.95 m or in old money 29 feet 4 and a bit inches. When I do keynote speeches, one of my favourite things to do is to measure out Mike’s record just to illustrate some of the extraordinary feats elite athletes are capable of and it never, never fails to amaze me or an audience. Mike broke the record at the Tokyo World Championship in one of the most tumultuous tussles with the equally legendary athlete Carl Lewis, having played second fiddle to Carl for so many years. In the conversation Mike describes in such a colourful and engaging way how he went about pursuing the title, using Carl as a motivator, how he tapped into a coach that could take him to another level, how he harnessed sports psychology long before it was common place. If you can take a look at the youtube link in the below of the competition either as a reminder or to soak up for the first time what I would describe as one of the best head to head sporting competitions of all-time.   Tokyo World Championship final https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0WfsAwvTSU   *** Applied Pro Practitioner Courses *** https://www.supportingchampions.co.uk/onlinecourse Notes The long jump record was a turning point in Mike’s life Mike Foul! Using fuel between Carl Lewis and himself as competition Stoking of aggression in order to fuel performance Visualisation with a sport psychologist Mike Powell’s coach Randy Huntington and his training methods Breaking the World Record but Carl had 2 jumps left and he ALWAYS came back What was it like experiencing the peak of his performance? Mike’s prediction! Adjusting to fame and the downsides Mike’s pearls of wisdom Being lean and strong is the key! Links Steve Ingham on Twitter www.twitter.com/ingham_steve Supporting Champions on; Twitter www.twitter.com/support_champs Linkedin, www.linkedin.com/company/supporting-champions Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/supportingchampions You can get bonus content from me at Youtube, https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8W3kvAsvtDDsEayex-1i5A

This week’s guest is Ben Ryan. Ben coached the England Rugby Sevens team between 2007 and 2013. Ben then took a big leap of faith in taking up the head coach role with the Fijian team, leading them to Olympic gold at the Rio Olympics. In recognition of these achievements the IOC named Fiji as the best male team performance at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games and Ben was awarded the Companion of the Order of Fiji, the highest order attainable on the Islands. Ben’s book documenting his journey, Sevens heaven won the Telegraph’s sports book of the year. Ben is a thoughtful, observant coach. He has a level of calm consideration for the environment he is in and the people he interacts with whether they’re a prop or a prime minister, which all manifests itself in an unambiguous focus on how he works, how he leads and how he creates the conditions for others to succeed. This approach makes him one of the most compelling coaches to listen to.  *** Applied Pro Practitioner Courses *** https://www.supportingchampions.co.uk/onlinecourse Notes Talking in different languages Resources, foundations & communication Independent views is added value The commitment to Fiji Massaging egos Sausages! What did you learn and still reinforce whilst in Fiji? Ben’s North Star Links https://benryan.co.uk/ https://benryan.co.uk/podcast/ https://twitter.com/benjaminryan Steve Ingham on Twitter www.twitter.com/ingham_steve Supporting Champions on; Twitter www.twitter.com/support_champs Linkedin, www.linkedin.com/company/supporting-champions Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/supportingchampions You can get bonus content from me at Youtube, https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8W3kvAsvtDDsEayex-1i5A  

This week’s guest is Laurence Halsted. Laurence is a former Olympic fencer, having competed at the London and Rio Olympics. Laurence retired after the Rio Olympics and is currently Performance Director of Danish Fencing.    Since retiring as an athlete Laurence has been supporting athletes in a bold new way to support the whole athlete, through holistic thinking, mentoring, developing self-awareness, care and mental health. He’s done this work with a company called The True Athlete Project and he has just published a book by the same title which lays out - in a very clear, logical inspirational and practical way.   Notes Laurence explains a little of the fencing rules Performance Director for the Danish fencing team Post Games how do you debrief athletes? How to offset conditions to create change in sport The definition of a ‘true’ athlete ‘The second arrow’ & mentoring Mindfulness as a starting point Links Applied Practitioner Course https://www.supportingchampions.co.uk/onlinecourse   Where to buy Becoming a True Athlete book: Amazon- https://www.amazon.co.uk/Becoming-True-Athlete-Philosophy-Flourishing/dp/191411003X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2AX88EK2ZG67S&dchild=1&keywords=becoming+a+true+athlete&qid=1631273446&sr=8-1 Waterstones- https://www.waterstones.com/book/becoming-a-true-athlete/laurence-halsted/9781914110030 www.thetrueathleteproject.org www.laurencehalsted.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/laurencehalsted   Steve Ingham on Twitter www.twitter.com/ingham_steve Supporting Champions on; Twitter www.twitter.com/support_champs Linkedin, www.linkedin.com/company/supporting-champions Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/supportingchampions   You can get bonus content from me at Youtube, take a look at the link in the show notes -  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8W3kvAsvtDDsEayex-1i5A

Martin Yelling is a former international runner, duathlete and ironman athlete and since retiring has, along with his partner Liz Yelling coached 1000s of athletes, and everyday folks to marathon and endurance achievements. Recently, Martin has set about creating a charitable organisation called Stormbreak. They have a purpose to; “... improve children’s mental health through movement, equipping them with sustainable, transferable skills and coping strategies to thrive during the complex demands of growth into adult life. Martin describes the origins of the idea, the challenge they’re working with and the hopes for what might develop.   If you want to get involved follow Stormbreak https://twitter.com/hellostormbreak https://www.stormbreak.org.uk/   Work experience bootcamp - registration closes 10th Sept https://www.supportingchampions.co.uk/kps-course/ Starter Courses - Pre-register Now https://www.supportingchampions.co.uk/starter-courses-2/ Applied Pro Practitioner Course - Pre-register Now https://www.supportingchampions.co.uk/applied-pro-course-preregister/     You can get bonus content from me at Youtube, take a look at the link in the show notes -  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8W3kvAsvtDDsEayex-1i5A Steve Ingham on Twitter www.twitter.com/ingham_steve Supporting Champions on; Twitter www.twitter.com/support_champs Linkedin, www.linkedin.com/company/supporting-champions Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/supportingchampions

Duff Gibson won the Olympic gold medal in bob skeleton at the 2006 Turin Winter Olympics. He did so at the age of 39. Duff has an incredible story to tell about trying and trying again, testing himself in several different sports, in the pursuit of finding the one that would suit him and allow him to take a shot at being an olympian. Duff shares that exploration and with it the clear analysis of why he wasn’t suited to certain sports, ranging from physiology to politics. But this isn’t a tale of a plucky loser, picking himself up from each knock back, failure or disappointment. This is a lesson in valuing the experience along the way, experience above detail, journey above destination. Duff has such clarity on this philosophy that he has written a book called the Tao of Sport in which he lays his experiences bare and creates a campaign for us to be more cognisant and skilful in how we create the journey for young athletes in the future. Talking to Duff reminded me of the quote from Confucius We all lead two lives, the second one begins when you realise you only have one.   Notes Early athletic career Mental strategies - what if I wasn’t able to compete? The Turin Olympic gold Intimidation versus competitor support Creating an environment which support great performance not just winning It’s about execution - what makes a difference   Links https://twitter.com/duffgibson For details of Duff's upcoming book https://www.darkhorseathletic.ca/ https://www.spreaker.com/show/the-tao-of-sport?fbclid=IwAR2wQaSfF-cO4qEeQz6EPAidMW3G_kYaCqesu4sa6mgyJZuyTRhe7jkqKJI   Steve Ingham on Twitter www.twitter.com/ingham_steve Supporting Champions on; Twitter www.twitter.com/support_champs Linkedin, www.linkedin.com/company/supporting-champions Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/supportingchampions You can get bonus content from me at Youtube, https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8W3kvAsvtDDsEayex-1i5A

Dan Bigham is an athlete of the highest order, principally in the disciplines of individual and team pursuit with multiple national and World cup titles. Recently Dan is taking a pop at Bradley Wiggins’ hour record too. But Dan has achieved this level of performance with a band of brothers who congregated together and plied their collective physical talents with a mindset of simply trying to ‘work performance out’. Dan is an engineer by training and spent numerous years working in motorsports and sports analytics using his big brain and curiosity to ask questions, explore, be willing to go off script in the pursuit of performance. Dan’s recent book Start at the End, tells the story of how he led this team to success using the principles of reverse-engineering. And while you’ll hear Dan get into the technical details of aerodynamics etc, you’ll also hear how this attitude has spilled or you could say has been applied to all aspects of personal and team performance too.   Notes Early introduction to a range of sports Cycling interests increase and coincide with business development of Team KGS Team Derbados!!!! The closing of systems after initial success Creating loss, fail at competition or training, questions decisions Don’t be annoying Marginal gains and not stretching too thinly Separating the results from the process Open conversations and feedback sheets shared with everyone clarity over metrics and selection  Dan’s lesson on team organisation /dynamics: listening, decision making, attitude etc   Links You can follow Dan on Twitter https://twitter.com/DanBiggles22 Start at the end book  https://www.shopforwatts.co.uk/products/start-at-the-end-book   You can get bonus content from me at Youtube, take a look at the link in the show notes -  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8W3kvAsvtDDsEayex-1i5A On Twitter www.twitter.com/ingham_steve Supporting Champions on; Twitter www.twitter.com/support_champs Linkedin, www.linkedin.com/company/supporting-champions Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/supportingchampions

Sir Steve Redgrave and Sir Matthew Pinsent are as successful a sporting duo as you’ll ever meet. Steve has won 5 gold medals at 5 successive games and is a 9 time world champion, Matt has won 4 Olympic golds and 10 world championships.  They were successful before Britain became good at sport, winning before the UK Olympic system grew sophisticated. But not just the occasional win - sustained and dominant winning. I had the privilege of working with Steve and Matt from 1998, supporting them, along with Tim Foster and James Cracknell to the Sydney Olympics. I can’t tell you how much influence they both had on me as a professional sports scientist and as a person. Their focus, standards, intensity, but also thinking, understanding and at times philosophy was so impressive you couldn’t help but learn from it. You’ll hear that though in this conversation, which was surprising, fun and at times emotional.   Notes Tokyo delays how would they have responded? ‘Just what we wanted’ & ‘Control the controllables’ A hairline crack in the rig puts a race in jeopardy Are you feeling nervous yet? Changing the conversation The step up from Barcelona to Atlanta the pressure changed hugely Steve’s infamous quote and the pressure of build up It wasn’t a long retirement! The challenges that Steve felt in returning to rowing, both physically & mentally The way in which Matt & Steve supported each other, the deep level of understanding What are Matt & Steve’s reflections on pursuing a goal pushing and driving but doing it well?   Links https://twitter.com/matthewcpinsent https://twitter.com/SteveRedgrave5 Steve Ingham on Twitter www.twitter.com/ingham_steve Supporting Champions on; Twitter www.twitter.com/support_champs Linkedin, www.linkedin.com/company/supporting-champions Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/supportingchampions

In this week’s conversation I speak to Martin Buchheitt and George Perry authors of their upcoming book “Egoals” (a blend of Ego and goals), the subtitle being, “Exercising your ego in high-performance environments”. Martin has been a real leader in applied sports science and research particularly in team sports and George is a track coach and writer based in the US. They’ve teamed up to explore the notion of how we manage, utilise and harness our sense of self, identity and achievement in roles which are inherently in support of others achieving. They have done this with a powerful collection of interviews and reflections from support staff from around the world with an accumulated experience level of over 2000 years. Their writing and reflections resonated deeply with me and yet the conversation challenged me. There is an urge for us to be a little bolder with the experiences and insights we need to find ways not to get ahead of ourselves. There is a balance to be had, a tightrope, almost a dil for which we have to find a better way to manage. Martin and George’s exploration of ego is a valuable contribution to our craft.   Follow Martin on Twitter https://twitter.com/mart1buch Take a look at the book  https://egoalsbook.com/ http://instagram.com/egoalsbook   NEW SUPPORTING CHAMPIONS YOUTUBE CHANNEL https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8W3kvAsvtDDsEayex-1i5A   Steve Ingham on Twitter www.twitter.com/ingham_steve Supporting Champions on; Twitter www.twitter.com/support_champs Linkedin, www.linkedin.com/company/supporting-champions Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/supportingchampions

This week I spoke to Mike Hughes. Mike is a Performance Analyst, having worked with some of the best teams in the world and developed them by providing understanding and insight based on deconstructing and exploring phenomena in training and performance. Mike and I worked alongside each other at the English institute of Sport, though on different teams, Mike worked with British cycling in the years that it went from mediocre to utterly dominant. He’s worked at Insight Analysis where he was assigned to the England Rugby team where you may have seen him alongside the England coaching team where Mike was beavering away crunching numbers on hand to feed directly to the coaches.   Performance Analysis has risen in prominence in the last few decades - nearly every top operation has analysts as a central part of their backroom teams. What is interesting about the discussion with Mike though is that he creates the case that insight is all very well but if you haven’t got the relationship with the coaches and leaders to have that conversation that could necessitate change, (perhaps sometimes against their preferred way of working), then analysis stays as just that - an unused data point.   At the very heart of Performance Analysis is the saying “Why guess, when you could know?” - but as Mike illustrates a deeper question is - “Now you know what needs to be different, but do you know how to make difference?”   Happy listening   Notes   Performance analysis in the blood - Mike Hughes son of Prof Mike Hughes! The differing eras of PA advancement Current PA set up for teams  The importance of coaching intuition and marrying with PA Mike’s example of making a difference via PA Simulating differing environments, referees and preferences Red Zone Analysis   Links Steve Ingham on Twitter www.twitter.com/ingham_steve Supporting Champions on; Twitter www.twitter.com/support_champs Linkedin, www.linkedin.com/company/supporting-champions Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/supportingchampions   If you’re looking for some coaching support or some virtual team development help to support you to get to the next level in work, life or sport then take a look at https://supportingchampions.co.uk/coaching-mentoring/ or drop us a note at enquiries@supportingchampions.co.uk then you can sign up for a free consultation to explore which package is right for you.

Mandy Hickson on jet fighter pilot performance   This week I spoke to Mandy Hickson. Mandy is a fighter pilot, having joined the Royal Air Force in 1994 and flew the Tornado GR4 on the front line, where she operated in hostile environments, including patrolling the ‘No Fly’ zone over Iraq. I was fascinated to discuss with Mandy about the physical and mental challenges of training to become a top fighter pilot. I was particularly interested how pilot’s like Mandy improve, what are the stages of progression to go from small craft, to faster and more manoeuvrable craft, and then to train in such a way that you’re ready to operate and perform in a combat zone, where the stakes are as high as they get. The conversation is so rich with insight, where Mandy unpacks a number of situations, scenarios and seriously pressured circumstances with powerful detail and shares a number of useful frameworks that helped her to manage the fears and doubts but then rise to the top. She shares her insights with a combination of breeziness, fun, care and a level of wisdom that comes from profound experience. Oh and there’s another detail that’s pretty obvious but in many ways is irrelevant and relevant as you’ll hear in this discussion. She’s a woman who got to the top in a male dominated field. And while that might not matter to some, as a role model to other people aspiring to do something against the odds, she’s an inspiration.   Notes Types of jets and craft Mandy has flown in the RAF Training takes time  Grey out, G-Force and the G-suits required to be worn and the pressure of G-Force Situational awareness and the bigger picture Notice, understand and think ahead - NUTA Getting your head out of the detail Debriefing and best practice Everyone hates feedback but give me a BOOST - balanced, observed, objective, specific and timely DODAR Diagnose share with the team, what do you think?, options - what would you do?, option generation leading to the decision by the leader, Assign task and review (or give me a reason not to)  Being a female fighter pilot Making better quality decisions and creating a solutions based culture, the ‘Just Culture’   Links Follow Mandy https://twitter.com/MandyHickson https://hicksonltd.com/   Steve Ingham on Twitter www.twitter.com/ingham_steve Supporting Champions on; Twitter www.twitter.com/support_champs Linkedin, www.linkedin.com/company/supporting-champions Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/supportingchampions