The Sport Psych Show

I am delighted to be joined by Dr Mike Ashford and Dr Loel Collins in this episode. Both Mike and Loel lecture at Edinburgh University. Loel is the Programme Director for MSc Performance Coaching and Development and Mike lectures in Sports Coaching and Performance. They are also both coach developers at Grey Matters, a company specialising in performance enhancement and coaching development for individuals, sporting/cultural organisations and systems. And they’ve written a paper along with Prof Dave Collins and Dr Jamie Taylor called “It depends coaching – The most fundamental, simple and complex principle or a mere copout?”. In this paper, the authors set out the arguments for Professional Judgement and Decision-Making (PJDM - the scientific representation of it depends coaching) as a genuine construct in coaching and, therefore, coach development. They do this through a critical consideration of three “pillars” or core constructs of PJDM. Namely, the concept of nested planning, the nature and use of knowledge in coaching, and the expression of expertise in coaching utilising a PJDM approach.

In this week’s episode I’m delighted to be joined by Kevin Smith, Dr Con Burns and Dr Ed Coughlan. We discuss a new paper Kevin, Con, Ed, and a number of other authors have written entitled “How to coach: A review of theoretical approaches for the development of a novel coach education framework”. The article reviews literature relating to theoretical constructs of a novel coach education framework developed by the Irish Rugby Football Union. The three constructs included are: self-determination theory (SDT), explicit learning theories (ELT) and implicit learning theories (ILT). We take a deep dive into the paper and examine the roles of SDT, ELT and ILT in coaching and discuss how they can be combined to enhance coaching practice.

In this episode I speak with chartered occupational psychologist, Sarah Broadhead. Sarah is Director and founder of Broadhead Performance which aims to give individuals and organisations in sport and business the insight, skills and support they need to perform and thrive. She has worked in a range of sports including GB Taekwondo, British Swimming, GB Canoeing, Archery GB, UK Athletics and GB Triathlon. Sarah was part of the Director team that created Chimp Management with Professor Steve Peters, shaping the vision of the company. In this episode we discuss Sarah’s fantastic new book “Perform & Thrive: A Sportsperson’s Guide to Mental Health and Wellbeing” which examines how sportspeople keep on top of wellbeing and the mental side in both sporting performances and life overall. Taking a deep dive into the elements that really count, and identify what can be done - practically - to provide sportspeople with the best possible chance of success. Filled with real-world examples, findings from the latest research, plus life stories from top athletes, this book - for athletes and coaches - is a must-read for nurturing people who wish to perform and thrive.

I speak with Blaine McKenna in this episode. Blaine is a UEFA A soccer coach, former academy director and author. Having completed his Masters is Sport Psychology, Blaine started to incorporate mental skills into his coaching curriculum and has taken his brand of coaching all over the globe from Kuwait to Thailand. Taken from his experiences coaching abroad, Blaine has written a fascinating new book “Coaching Abroad” which gives brilliant insight into the ins and outs of coaching abroad. We particularly focus on coaching people from different cultures and backgrounds and Blaine shares some fantastic tips he's picked up from his many years of coaching abroad.

This week I’m delighted to speak to Prof Joe Baker. Joe is the Head of the Lifespan Performance Laboratory in the School of Kinesiology and Health Science, at York University, Canada. Previously Joe has held visiting researcher/professor positions in the Carnegie Research Institute at Leeds Metropolitan University UK, Victoria University, Australia, the Australian Institute of Sport and the Institute of Sport Science at Westflische Wilhelms-Universitat Münster in Germany. Joe’s research focuses on optimal human development, largely to understand how someone gets to, and stays at, the highest levels of performance. His previous research in this area has considered various psychosocial and environmental factors influencing athletic skill development across a range of sports. Joe is the Past President of the Canadian Society for Psychomotor Learning and Sport Psychology and the author/editor of 5 journal special issues and more than 300 peer reviewed articles, commentaries, position statements and 14 books. And it’s his latest book ‘The Tyranny of Talent: How it compels and limits athletic achievement… and why you should ignore it’ that is the topic of this podcast. The book explores the elements that affect people's likelihood of success, starting with a thorough discussion of what 'talent' is, why both nature and nurture are critical factors, and why this distinction no longer matters. For many coaches, parents, and athletes, misunderstandings about ‘talent’ continue to constrain how they think about their long-term development and achievement.

This week I’m delighted to speak to Dr Nicky Keay. Nicky is an Exercise Endocrinologist and an Honorary Clinical Lecturer in Medicine at University College London. Previously, Nicky was a Research Fellow in the Department of Sport and Exercise Sciences at Durham University. Nicky is a member of the British Association of Sport and Exercise Medicine and she conducts clinical research in sports/dance endocrinology which has resulted in a range of research publications and awards. Nicky’s aim is to redefine optimal health and fitness for the individual helping them to: improve general health and fitness or athletic performance, prevent injury, or rehabilitate after injury or illness. Nicky helps individuals achieve their goals by bringing together her areas of expertise. We discuss Nicky’s fascinating new book “Hormones, Health and Human Potential: A guide to understanding your hormones to optimise your health and performance”.

I speak with Dr Julie Johnston and Joseph Stanford in this episode. Julie is a Senior Lecturer in Sport & Exercise Psychology at Nottingham Trent University. Her research focuses on behavioural, social and environmental influences on children and adolescent psychosocial development, health and wellbeing. Both her PhD and current research has focused on developing an understanding of coach and parenting roles within sport and the impact of these roles on young athletes' psychosocial development, health and wellbeing. Joseph is a PhD student at Nottingham Trent University, a Performance Swim Coach at University of Nottingham Sport and A squad coach at Nova Centurion - the elite performance programme for Nottinghamshire swimming and one of the UK's top swimming clubs. Joseph’s research focuses on what makes a successful athlete and how coaches and athletes work together to facilitate positive relationships. Both Julie and joseph have a particular interest in swimming. Julie competed on the international swimming arena for Ireland and Northern Ireland for ten years, participating in three Commonwealth Games, three World Championships, three World University Games and a number of European Championships. We discuss an upcoming paper that Julie led and was co-written by Joseph along with Dr Chris Saward, Dr Mustafa Sarkar, Prof Chris Harwood and Prof Daniel Gould entitled “How to help coaches meet the psychosocial skill needs of their Generation Z athletes: A season long investigation in swimming”.

This week I’m delighted to speak to Martin Erikstad. Martin is a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Agder in Norway. His areas of interest are coaching, transformational leadership, talent development and youth sport. Martin played soccer to an elite level in Norway before moving into an academic career. Martin completed his Masters and PhD in talent development in football at the University of Adger. He also spent several months at Queens University in Canada studying under Jean Côté. After completing his PhD he worked as an Associate Professor at Nord University.   Martin has also led and co-authored a paper along with Prof Bjørn Tore Johansen, Marius Johnsen, Prof Tommy Haugen and Jean Côté entitled “As Many as Possible for as Long as Possible: A Case Study of a Soccer Team that Fosters Multiple Outcomes”. The study examines the Norwegian soccer club, Bryne FC and how it successfully fosters player participation and engagement in the game for the long term regardless of their athletic potential or motivation.   You can find the study here https://www.researchgate.net/publication/349966854_As_Many_as_Possible_for_as_Long_as_Possible-A_Case_Study_of_a_Soccer_Team_That_Fosters_Multiple_Outcomes

In this episode I’m delighted to speak with Dr Ross Wadey and Dr Melissa Day, Ross is a Professor in Sport Psychology at St Mary’s University. Ross’s research is at the forefront of advancing knowledge in areas including psycho-social-cultural considerations in the prevention of, and recovery from, sport injury and multilevel learning following adversity in sport and beyond. Ross is a Chartered Psychologist with the British Psychological Society and a Full Member of the Division of Sport and Exercise Psychology. He sits on the Editorial Board for The Sport Psychology and Journal of Applied Sport Psychology. Mel is a Reader in Qualitative Sport Psychology at University of Chichester and the programme coordinator for the BSc in Sport and Exercise Psychology. She teaches at undergraduate and postgraduate level and currently supervises PhD students. Mel’s main research area is stress and trauma in sport including vicarious trauma in sport through witnessing injury, and the potential that sport holds to foster post traumatic growth. Mel is BASES accredited and HCPC registered. She regularly reviews for a range of journals and is on the editorial board of Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health. Ross, Mel and I discuss the psychology of injury and explore how the stories we have about ourselves can be a help or a hindrance.

I'm delighted to speak with Dr Matthew Scott, Prof Paul Holmes and Dr David Wright in this episode.   Matt is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of British Columbia in the School of Kinesiology. Matt investigates the effect of dyad practice - training with a partner - on motor learning. His interests are in combined (and independent) action observation and motor imagery, motor learning and motor control. Paul is Deputy Pro-Vice Chancellor in the Faculty of Health and Education at Manchester Metropolitan University and a Research Professor of Motor Cognition. Paul’s research interests include motor cognition in human performance and movement rehabilitation where he has published widely on both subjects focusing on motor imagery and action observation mechanisms. Paul has worked as a sport psychologist in high performance sport for over 25 years. David is a Senior Lecturer in Psychology in the Department of Exercise and Sport Science at Manchester Metropolitan University. His area of interest is in neurophysiological processes involved in various aspects of sport psychology. David’s research focuses on motor imagery using brain stimulation techniques. Matt, Paul, David and I discuss a fascinating paper they have published alongside Dr Dave Smith and led by Matt which reviews PETTLEP imagery. The PETTLEP model was first published by Paul and Professor Dave Collins 20 years ago as a framework to improve the delivery and outcome of motor imagery (MI) interventions. Drawing on research from neuroscience, cognitive-behavioural psychology, and sport psychology the model served as a set of guidelines for sport psychologists to consider when developing MI interventions and tailoring them to individual athlete needs. PETTLEP is an acronym for seven practical elements that sport psychologists could consider when developing MI interventions with athletes (Physical, Environment, Task, Timing, Learning, Emotion, and Perspective). In the 20 years since its publication, the PETTLEP model has become one of the most dominant models for structuring MI interventions in sport.  Please see a link to the paper here https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667239122000260?via%3Dihub