The Sport Psych Show

Dr. Shakiba Moghadam discusses mental health literacy, athlete mental health, experiences of women athletes in male-dominated sports, human rights violations in sports, and the experiences of marginalized communities. Other topics include the speaker's personal journey in boxing, breaking stigmas around women's boxing, mental health literacy in women rugby players, and barriers to help-seeking behavior.

This week I’m delighted to speak to Dr Charlie Corsby, Prof Robyn Jones and Dr Andy Lane. Charlie is a Senior Lecturer in Sport Coaching at Cardiff Metropolitan University. Charlie holds a UEFA ‘A’ Licence coaching qualification. Alongside his academic responsibilities, Charlie is the Head Coach for Cardiff Met FC BUCS1 programme.​ The focus of Charlie’s research relate to the everyday complexities and affairs of coaches, particularly relating to ‘influence’ and ‘control’ within the coaching context. Robyn is Professor of Sport and Social Theory and a former Associate Dean of Research at Cardiff Metropolitan University, UK. Robyn’s research area comprises a critical sociology of coaching in respect of examining the relational nature of the work, and how practitioners manage the power-ridden dilemmas that arise. The purpose is to generate critical insight into an important part of cultural life, namely that of sports participation, and how that complex experience is framed by coaches Andy is a Senior Lecturer in Sport Coaching at Cardiff Metropolitan University. He is currently the Programme Director for the BSc Sport Coaching Undergraduate degree and teaches across undergraduate and post graduate programmes. Andrew also currently supervises a number of post graduate students within coaching and coach education and is a member of the Schools Social Science ethics committee. We discuss a paper co-written by Charlie, Robyn and Andy entitled “Contending with vulnerability and uncertainty: what coaches say about coaching”.

I’m delighted to speak with Prof Chris Harwood this week. Chris is the Director of the Sport, Health and Performance Enhancement (SHAPE) Research Centre at Nottingham Trent University (NTU). He is a Professor of Sport Psychology at NTU where his research focuses on the psychosocial aspects of athlete development, wellbeing and performance including the roles of the coach, parents, and the wider social and organisational environment. Chris is particularly focused on the integration of psychological principles into youth sport settings and his applied research is characterised by working with the support system around young people. Chris is also prominent in the area of professional development, supervision and training of sport psychologists in the UK and international systems.  We speak about Chris’s research over the past 30 years, focusing on Achievement Goal Theory, Reflection-in-Action, and the 5 C’s: Commitment, Communication, Concentration, Control, and Confidence.

I am delighted to welcome back Dr Ian Peek in this episode. Ian has been a golf coach for 35 years. He is currently consulting with the Swiss Golf Federation supporting the coaches at national and regional level and supporting parents at some of the leading juniors in the country.   Ian helps his clients achieve their goals whether that’s transitioning to a new level of achievement or maintaining their position at the top of their sport or industry. Ian is also a PGA Master Professional - the highest educational level in The PGA - which recognises PGA Members who make a significant effort to improve themselves as golf professionals and maintain the highest degree of excellence for themselves and their operations. In this episode Ian and I discuss the mental health challenges that professional sport competitors face when competing at the very highest level of their game. 

In this episode I’m delighted to welcome back Prof Mark Williams and Prof Nicola Hodges to speak about skill acquisition in sport. Mark Williams is a Senior Research Scientist at The Institute of Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC)- a not-for-profit research institute of the Florida University System and is affiliated with several Florida universities. Mark was previously at the University of Utah, where he was professor and chairman of the Department of Health, Kinesiology, and Recreation. Mark has held various senior leadership positions Liverpool John Moores University, University of Sydney and Brunel University, London. Mark’s research interests focus on the neural and psychological mechanisms underpinning the acquisition and development of expertise. He has published almost 300 journal articles in peer-reviewed outlets in numerous fields including exercise and sports science Nikki is a Professor at the University of British Columbia (UBC), Vancouver in the School of Kinesiology. It is at UBC that Nikki runs the Motor Skills Laboratory where she studies the mechanisms of motor skill learning. Her research focuses on processes involved in watching, learning and predicting from others and how practice should be best structured to bring about long-term enhancement of motor skills and high-level performance (particularly in sport). She has been involved in sport-consulting and she has published over 100 peer-reviewed articles and chapters.

Dr Daniel Fortin-Guichard, a psychologist specializing in talent identification research in sports, discusses the identification of 'sleeping' talent using psychological characteristics. They explore the role of self-regulation, attachment, and grit in talent identification, and the challenges of scouting young athletes. The concept of sleeping talent and the importance of psychological skills in talent development are also highlighted. The episode concludes with a discussion on current research projects and future episodes.

Dr. Keith McShan, an Assistant Professor at Missouri State University with a coaching background, and Dr. Whitney Moore, a former strength and conditioning coach now at East Carolina University, delve into the pivotal coach-athlete relationship. They explore research on achievement goal theory and its role in athlete motivation. The conversation highlights the importance of trust, flexibility, and meaningful connections in coaching, emphasizing that a supportive environment leads to improved performance and well-being for both athletes and coaches.

Dr Mark Aoyagi, Co-Director of the Master's programme in Sport and Performance Psychology, talks about theories of performance excellence, developing curiosity as a skill, the power of curiosity in coaching and playing, developing a theoretical orientation in sports psychology, focus and attention in performance excellence, and the science of trust in sports performance.

In this episode I’m joined by Dr Alison Maitland and Jenna Ashford to talk about their new book “Drop the Struggle: A Transformative Approach to Achieving Your Potential in Sport and Life”. Alison is a widely recognised and experienced HCPC registered and BASES accredited Sport Psychologist. She has a PhD in elite sport and uses her expertise in human performance in a wide range of settings in sport and businesses around the world. Alison has helped elite athletes achieve World Championship titles and Olympic success. Jenna is a Chartered Sport and Exercise Psychologist and Performance Consultant, working with top athletes, CEO's at global companies and within sectors including education and healthcare. Jenna is also a passionate sportswoman and represented England Hockey and played in premier league teams all over the world. Their book, “Drop the Struggle” is based on scientifically proven techniques from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and takes a radically new look at the mental side of reaching your potential in sport. It has been written for athletes, coaches and anyone wanting to achieve more and provides a practical kitbag of ways to succeed. It will teach you a sustainable way of dealing with difficult thoughts, managing your emotions and harnessing them to help you perform to the best of your ability.

In this episode I’m joined by Dr James Munnik and Prof Leon Van Niekerk. James is a Counselling Psychology Lecturer at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. James has worked with a number of athletes in his own private practice as a high performance mental coach in psychotherapy and counselling. He has special interests in sport/exercise psychology research and Rational Emotive Behavioural Therapy (REBT) theory and practice. Leon is a Professor of Psychology at University of Fort Hare in South Africa. He is a registered Counselling Psychologist and has his own psychology consultancy practice where he focuses on the provision of sport psychological services to individual athletes and teams. Leon’s research interests are in the psychological well-being of athletes. This includes topics such as the development of mental toughness, sport identity and life roles, burnout, stress and anxiety among athletes, the effectiveness of mindfulness during competition, mental health in sport and the psychological health benefits of exercise. In this episode we discuss a paper entitled “Recommendations for Integrating Psychological Skills Training (PST) into Rational Emotive Behavioural Therapy (REBT)” which was led by James and co-written by Dr Martin Turner and Leon.