The Sport Psych Show
Dan Abrahams
Join Sport Psychologist, Dan Abrahams, on The Sport Psych Show as he aims to demystify sport psychology for players, coaches and parents by speaking with some of the most influential people in sports performance today. Dan is on a mission to learn more about how sport psychology philosophies, tools and techniques positively impact participation, progression and performance in sport. He wants to learn more about how to drive participation – what motivational tools engage players and inspire people to play and stay in their sport. He wants to explore how players can progress quicker and more effectively – what is great practice and training? And how does learning in sport really happen? Finally, he wants to hear what his guests have to say about the psychology of performance – how do they think players can improve their ability to high perform consistently under pressure? Discover simple and practical tools and techniques by listening in to Dan’s conversations with elite competitors, sports coaches, sport scientists, and psychologists.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Sep 7, 2020 • 1h
#106 Craig Pickering - Managing Success and Dealing with Failure
I’m delighted to speak with former Olympic 100m sprinter and bobsleigher, Craig Pickering in this episode. After early success as a young athlete, Craig went on to win a number of medals at European and World Championship levels. After a career-ending injury Craig completed his doctorate and now works as athlete pathway manager at Athletics Australia. We speak in depth about Craig’s experiences as an athlete including attentional cues, dealing with injury, well-being and managing success and failure.
Aug 31, 2020 • 1h 4min
#105 Stuart Wilkinson - Developing an Integrated System Around the Player
I speak with rugby league international coaching specialist, Stuart Wilkinson in this episode. Stuart started out playing the game, before moving on to coaching in the National pathway. He was Great Britain Academy Assistant Coach and a coach with the English national team for a number of years. In the late 90’s he became the first player performance manager in GB Rugby League where his brief was to build up a local pathway for players. Stuart moved on to work with the first team at Wigan Warriors and then became the RFL national performance coach. He has coached with the national teams of Wales, France, Russia and is now coaching in Serbia, as well as undertaking a PhD in talent development. We speak in depth about developing an integrated system around the player.
Aug 24, 2020 • 1h 5min
#104 Dr Amy Whitehead – Think Aloud Protocol: A Coaching Tool for Reflective Practice
I speak with Dr Amy Whitehead in this episode. Amy is a sport psychologist, coach developer and Programme Manager for the Sports Coaching and Sport Development programmes at Liverpool John Moores University. Amy specialises in ‘Think Aloud’ protocol in a sporting context which asks athletes and coaches to think aloud as they perform/coach. And it’s this protocol we focus on during the podcast. Specifically, how it works in practice; how it can help coaches and athletes analyse their performances; self reflection and flow.
Aug 17, 2020 • 1h 12min
#103 Gareth J Mole - The Future of Sport Psychology
I speak with sport psychologist Gareth J Mole in this episode. Gareth spent his younger days in South Africa and credits this for his love of sport. He then moved to the UK and went on to undertake his psychology undergraduate at the University of Leeds after which he moved to Australia to complete his Masters in sport psychology at the University of Western Sydney. In 2005 Gareth set up Condor Performance, a (now) 10 strong team of Australian sport and performance psychologists. Condor Performance has grown to become the largest independent sport and performance psychology practice in Australia. We speak about what the future of sport psychology might look like, specifically greater role clarity; stronger regulations in the field; cohesion between coaches and psychologists; the landscape of sport psychology across the world and hopes for the future.
Aug 10, 2020 • 1h 15min
#102 Joan Ryan - Team Chemistry
I’m delighted to have award-winning journalist and author, Joan Ryan on this episode. Joan was a pioneer in sports journalism, becoming one of the first female sports columnists in the country. Since 2008, Joan has been senior media advisor for the San Francisco Giants baseball team. Joan spends most of her time in the company of the players in the clubhouse, and the experiences she has had from this time prompted her to write her latest book, “Intangibles: Unlocking the Science and Soul of Team Chemistry” which asks does team chemistry really exist or is it a myth? If it exists, what is it exactly? And it’s this book we mainly speak about. We discuss the dynamics of team chemistry, what hinders and what helps, and its effect on performance.
Aug 3, 2020 • 1h 10min
#101 Dr Natalie Campbell - Pop Psychology
In this episode, I speak with Dr Natalie Campbell. Natalie is senior lecturer at the University of Gloucestershire in the Department of Sport and Exercise sciences. She completed her PhD in Social Psychology. Natalie is also a research and education associate of a charity called Switch the Play Foundation which helps to transition athletes into life outside of their sport. We speak about pop psychology; authenticity; acknowledging that success looks different for different people; experiential versus empirical knowledge.
Jul 27, 2020 • 1h 37min
#100 Dan Abrahams - Dr Scott Goldman Interviews Dan
To mark the 100th episode of The Sport Psych Show, Dr Scott Goldman has come back on to interview me. Scott and I speak about my experiences as a sport psychologist over the last 15 or so years. We explore the role of a sport psychologist and the importance of integrating sport psychology into sporting organisations. We also discuss what I feel coaches can do to get the very most from their players.
Jul 20, 2020 • 1h 11min
#99 Rory Mack and Andrew Wood - Communication for Change
In this episode, I’m joined by Rory Mack and Andrew Wood. Andrew is a Sport and Exercise Psychology Lecturer teaching at multiple universities. He also works as lead sport psychologist to the B1 football squad. Rory has been based at Sheffield Hallam University for the past 12 years. He is a post Viva PhD candidate. His PhD is in Motivational Interviewing in applied sport psychology. Rory and Andrew have written a fascinating research paper which discusses combining Motivational Interviewing (MI) with Rational Emotive Behavioural Therapy (REBT) in a series of sessions with an athlete and this is the focus of our conversation. Over the course of 6 sessions, the paper retraces how the frameworks were used to help the athlete think more effectively.
Jul 13, 2020 • 1h 6min
#98 Donna Fishter - The Introspective Coach
In this episode, I speak with leadership coach and team architect, Donna Fishter. Donna is owner of a consulting business working with teams, training leaders, developing culture and coaching coaches and individual athletes. Prior to this, Donna was a soccer coach for over 20 years. 13 of those years were at the University of Central Florida. We speak about the importance of introspection as a coach and leader: how can coaches be more self-aware with their communication, their tone, their demeanour? We also discuss how coaches can continue to self-monitor - asking themselves why do they do things the way they do?
Jul 6, 2020 • 52min
#97 Justine Siegal - Coaching Against the Odds
I am honoured to be joined by Justine Siegal in this episode. Justine was the first woman ever to coach professional baseball. Her experiences in the pro leagues motivated her to change the landscape of gender inequality in baseball. She has a PhD in Sport Psychology and is founder of Baseball For All, which is a national non-profit organisation empowering girls to coach, play and lead. We speak about Justine’s experiences growing up playing a very male dominated sport and how they shaped her to become the coach she is today.
