The Sport Psych Show

Dr. Noel Dempsey, a coach educator with experience in football coaching, shares insights on coaching philosophy, player development, and psychosocial support. He emphasizes personal growth, vulnerability, and the balance between structure and freedom in coaching. The podcast explores the impact of sports beyond the field and the importance of creating a supportive environment for athletes.

Olivia Bramley & Dr Laura Healy discuss mental health in sub-elite women's sports, tackling stigma, competition pressures, and the need for supportive environments. They delve into balancing multiple careers in women's football, emphasizing the importance of nurturing well-being in sports and creating psychologically informed environments for personal growth.

Sarah Green, UEFA A Licence Coach, discusses transitioning from football to netball coaching, expanding coaching skills through academic exploration, using bandwidth feedback in coaching sessions, and building a structured coaching environment to enhance player performance and mindset coaching strategies.

Jon Mackey, High Performance Director for Canoeing Ireland, discusses coaching for learning and skill development. Topics include contrasting research approaches, evolving coaching styles in combat sports, psychological insights through movement patterns, deliberate practice, scaling in coaching, and coaching athletes for performance and learning.

Explore how elite athletes like Gary Neville and Lionel Messi approach mental preparation and decision-making in sports. Discover the importance of deliberate practice, team dynamics, and strategic decision-making in achieving excellence. Learn about cross-sport learning, innovative coaching methods, and individual differences in elite competitors. Join the engaging conversation with David Horrocks on the mindset of an elite competitor.

Katie Crawford discusses how coaches can promote teamwork, exploring factors like team selection, roles, coach-athlete relationships, and athlete leadership. The podcast delves into optimizing teamwork in sports through psychological insights and the importance of building genuine connections in team sports. It also highlights empowering athlete-led teamwork and enhancing team dynamics for successful team performance.

I’m delighted to speak with Josh Frost this week. Josh is a PhD research student at The University of Melbourne. His research is also affiliated with the Elite Sports and Mental Health Centre at Orygen, a not-for-profit Youth Mental Health Centre located in Melbourne. The centre conducts research with athletes, coaches and high-performance support staff to find ways to better support elite athletes. In this episode Josh and I discuss a paper he led entitled “The Mental Health of Elite-Level Coaches: A Systematic Scoping Review” which examined the current body of evidence to explore what is known about the mental health of elite-level coaches (i.e. wellbeing and mental ill-health), the risk and protective factors that influence coach mental health, and the relationship between mental health and coaching effectiveness.

I’m delighted to speak with Karin Hägglund this week. Karin is a Former Swedish National team coach and National team athlete in karate. She is a five-time Swedish champion and three-time Nordic karate champion. Karin now researches how we can maintain well-being and health while performing at a high level over time. She is a PhD-student in Sustainable High-performance Coaching at The Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences. Karin is former editor and writer for the magazine FLOW published by the Swedish Sports Psychology Association and was a board member of the Swedish Sports Psychology Association. Karin and I discuss a paper she led entitled “Starting a Conversation about Vulnerability in Elite Sport”. The paper provides practitioners with resources based on insights from high-performance coaches to enable conversations about vulnerability in sport. The aim is that practitioners will use these resources to stimulate reflection and dialogue about vulnerability, which may lower thresholds for help-seeking and foster sustainability in sport organisations.

I’m delighted to speak with Jen Harris this week. Jen is an expert in the field of parenting in youth sport. As the mother of a child athlete Jen was struck how little help there is for parents and decided to help change this. She undertook a Masters degree in Sport Psychology, the focus of which was parenting in youth sport. For her dissertation she created the Super-P Approach; an easy to teach parental communication style which can significantly reduce worry levels in child athletes. Jen is now completing her PhD at The University of Edinburgh to extend the research into her Super-P Approach. Jen has also launched a business, Raising Happy Champs, which offers workshops and an extensive e-learning program to parents of children involved in competitive sport. Jen teaches parents sport psychology principals and how to apply them to improve their child’s experience of sport. In this episode we speak about Jen’s experiences as a sport parent and we discuss the results of a study Jen undertook along with Prof Dave Collins and Dr Christine Nash entitled “Let’s Hear It From the Kids! Examining the Experiences, Views, and Needs of Highly Committed Children Involved in Youth Sport”.

In this episode I’m delighted to speak with Dr Paul Mansell and Dr Katie Sparks. Paul is a lecturer in Sport and Exercise Psychology at Staffordshire University. Paul completed his PhD in 2023 at the University of Birmingham which investigated the role of trait beliefs in determining stress appraisals, performance and well-being. Paul continues to research in this area, with a specific focus on stress mindset and irrational beliefs. Specifically, Paul has constructed an intervention informed by the REBT framework to enhance well-being and performance under pressure. Katie is a Lecturer in Sport and Exercise Psychology at Staffordshire University and is currently undertaking her PhD at University of Birmingham. Katie is also a mindfulness practitioner. She previously worked with British Rowing as a Performance Lifestyle Advisor and ran psychology educational workshops within their talent development pathway. Paul and Katie discuss the findings of a study that investigated whether a multimodal cognitive-behavioural intervention could enhance young athletes’ psychological well-being and performance. The intervention employed a combination of education and reappraisal delivered in 6 × 1-hour group workshops. Content included stress mindset, irrational beliefs, self-compassion, and imagery. They found that teaching athletes simple cognitive behavioural techniques can change their ‘stress mindset’ and, in turn, enhance their wellbeing and performance.