The Sport Psych Show

In this episode I speak to Prof Mark Beauchamp. Mark is a Professor at The University of British Colombia. His research primarily focuses on the social psychology of groups within health, exercise, and sport settings and has been published in a variety of journals such as the Annals of Behavioral Medicine, Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, and the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Mark is a Chartered Psychologist, Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society (BPS), Associate Editor for the 'Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports', and he is on the editorial boards for a number of other journals including 'Sport, Exercise and Performance Psychology'​ (APA), and the 'Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology'. Mark characterises his work as the psychology of human thriving.  Mark and I discuss a brilliant paper he has written along with Alan Kingstone and Nikos Ntoumanis entitled “Psychology of Athletic Endeavor” which examines the (high quality) evidence that allows athletes to succeed, to thrive and to perform well. You can find the pre-print version of the paper on ResearchGate https://www.researchgate.net/publication/360181284_Psychology_of_athletic_endeavor

In this episode I’m delighted to welcome back teacher, teaching mentor and bestselling author, Doug Lemov to the show.   Doug studies high performing teachers and what it is they do that makes them so effective in the classroom. Back in episode 120 Doug came on the show to talk about his brilliant book “The Coach’s Guide to Teaching” in which he brings his considerable knowledge about the science of classroom teaching to the sports coaching world to create championship calibre coaches on the court and field. In this episode Doug is back to speak about the book a little over a year since its release, the question’s that have arisen from the book and his recent thoughts on some of the topics he introduced in the book.

I’m delighted to welcome Steve Magness back to the show this week. Steve is a world-renowned expert on performance. He has served as a consultant on mental skills development for professional sports teams, including some of the top teams in the NBA. He has also coached numerous professional athletes to the Olympics and world championship level. Steve was a columnist for Running Times magazine and is now the co-host of two podcasts: The Growth Equation podcast with Brad Stulberg and On Coaching with Magness and Marcus with Jon Marcus. His writing has also appeared in Runner’s World and Sports Illustrated. In addition, Steve's expertise on elite sport and performance has been featured in The New Yorker, Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Men’s Health, The Guardian, Business Insider, and ESPN The Magazine.  Steve is the author and co-author of a number of best-selling books. Collectively his books have sold more than a quarter-million copies. His upcoming book (out in June) is called “Do Hard Things: Why We Get Resilience Wrong and the Surprising Science of Real Toughness”. We take a deep dive into this brilliant book.

I speak to Dr Keagen Hadley in this week’s episode. Keagen is an occupational therapy doctor who specialises in using psychological treatments such as ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy) to improve the lives of his patients. Keagen is about to release his first book entitled "Torn: Overcoming the Psychological Challenges Post-ACL Injury" (out in June). The book has been written for people who may be struggling with psychological issues related to ACL injuries, though the practical tips on managing stress and overcoming the mental hurdles of injury recovery would be beneficial for those recovering from all types of injury. Keagen drew on his own personal experiences to write the book, having torn both ACLs playing college and semi-professional football (NFL). This experience made him acutely aware of the struggles associated psychologically post-ACL injury and how to overcome them with positive results. You can check out his website here https://keagenhadley.com

I speak to Dr Lee Hancock in this week’s episode. Lee is a professor in kinesiology at California State University, Dominguez Hills. He is also a coach educator at the US Soccer Federation and the sport psychology coach for Canada Women’s Beach Volleyball team that competed in the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio De Janeiro and Tokyo 2020. Lee is also the founder and owner of DLH Performance - a company dedicated to helping professional athletes, coaches at all levels, business and team leaders, students, parents and organisations fulfil their potential. And he’s recently released a brilliant book “Talent Zones: 10 Tools to Help Kids Develop Their Talents” in which Lee redefines talent so that parents, teachers, and coaches can create environments rich in opportunities for all kids to boost their confidence and to develop talents in multiple areas. He presents ten evidence-based, developmentally appropriate strategies called Talent Development Zones (TDZs) which transform talent concepts and research into practical strategies adults can use to create environments for developing talents.

I speak with Prof Rosemary Purcell & Dr Courtney Walton in this week’s episode. Rosie is Director of Knowledge Translation at Orygen. She is also the Deputy Head of Department of the Centre for Youth Mental Health at the University of Melbourne and a registered psychologist.  Rosie has co-authored over 150 publications in the areas of youth mental health, early intervention in forensic mental health and mental health in elite sport. She is an investigator on a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Project Grant investigating the benefits of physical activity for young people with depression, and a member of the International Olympic Committee’s Elite Athlete Mental Health Consensus Group and the IOC’s Mental Health Translation Working Group. Rosie’s primary research interests are understanding mental health problems in elite athletes and developing optimal strategies for improving and maximising mental health and wellbeing in sporting environments Courtney is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow within the Mental Health in Elite Sports research group at The University of Melbourne and Orygen. He is also a psychologist at The Mind Room, where he works primarily with athletes and performers. Courtney's research aims are to understand the aspects of unstable and competitive environments that both positively and negatively interact with mental health. He is also interested in exploring the ways in which sport and exercise can be supportive of adolescent mental health and well-being. He is an Associate Editor at Australian psychologist, and has contributed to research and consultancy projects with leading sporting organisations such as the AFL, AIS, Cricket Australia, and Tennis Australia. So far, he has published over 50 peer reviewed articles and book chapters. Courtney and Rosie have co-authored a fantastic paper entitled “An Evidence-Informed Framework to Promote Mental Wellbeing in Elite Sport” and it’s this paper we discuss in detail. You can read the paper here: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.780359/full

I speak to Dr Desmond McEwan in this week’s episode. Desi is a Chartered Psychologist and Assistant Professor at the University of Bath. His research examines the psychology of human health and performance and he has a particular interest in teamwork, group dynamics, team effectiveness, psychological safety, goal setting, and behaviour change. Desi has written a fascinating paper along with Kaitlin Crawford entitled “Why does teamwork execution breakdown? Experiences of university team sport athletes”. We take a deep dive into the paper and discuss the novel findings from the study which extend current knowledge of teamwork and group dysfunction in sport and provide directions for future research on teamwork breakdowns. We also discuss the potential applied implications for coaches and other team leaders related to these findings.  You can find the article here: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/359073208_Why_does_teamwork_execution_breakdown_Experiences_of_university_team_sport_athletes

I’m delighted to speak to coach, researcher and educator, Ross Ensor in this week’s episode. Ross is a PhD researcher in Sports Coaching at Loughborough University. He has experience with grassroots, semi-professional, national and county squads, and as a Foundation Phase coach at Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (where he also worked in the pre-academy and the development centre). Ross is passionate about creating positive learning environments to support multidisciplinary player development and has a particular interest in games-based approaches to coaching. We discuss an article he has written about using a game-sense approach to coaching.

I speak with Dr Trish Jackman and Rebecca Hawkins in this episode. Both Trish and Rebecca are Senior Lecturers in Sport and Exercise Psychology at the University of Lincoln. Trish’s research focuses on optimal experiences in sport and exercise. This work seeks to understand the positive, rewarding experiences that athletes and exercisers have during sport and physical activity to understand how these experiences can be promoted. Rebecca studies part-time for her PhD alongside her role as a lecturer. Her research is focused on the role of goal setting in physical activity promotion. We discuss a number of Trish and Rebecca’s research papers that cluster around themes such as flow and clutch states, performance under pressure, goal setting, and self-regulation. You can check out their profiles and papers here: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Patricia-Jackman https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Rebecca-Hawkins-8

I speak to Dr Brandon Orr in this week’s episode. Brandon is a Sport and Performance Psychology Specialist with 20 years’ experience coaching, educating, and training individuals and teams in executive-corporate entities, sport and performance domains and Special Operations personnel. Brandon integrates evidence-based strategies for applied psychology for the purpose of facilitating resilience, optimising sustained high performance, as well as assessment and selection of personnel for leadership aptitude, job fit, personality screening, and talent assessment, acquisition, and development. Brandon trained under Dr Rick McGuire at The University of Missouri before becoming Director of Sport Psychology at the University of Missouri. He currently works as Lead Cognitive Performance Specialist for the United States Special Operations Command.