The Sport Psych Show

This week I’m delighted to speak to Cailie McGuire and Dr Daniel Brown about thriving in sport. Cailie is in her final year of her PhD at Queen’s University. Her research interest is in sport psychology, specifically team dynamics: looking at how teammates interact with one another and how that influences individual and collective outcomes. Cailie’s PhD specifically focuses on the importance of building trust between teammates, coaches and support staff to promote athlete thriving. Dan is a senior lecturer in Sport and Exercise Psychology at the University of Portsmouth and leads the undergraduate programme in Sport and Exercise Psychology there. He is a Chartered Psychologist of the British Psychological Society and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Dan’s research centres on the psychology of human excellence and well-being (thriving). Cailie and Dan have written a paper along with Dr Desmond McEwan, Dr Rachel Arnold and Dr Luc Martin and led by Cailie entitled “Thriving together: conceptual and methodological considerations for examining thriving in interdependent sport”. Cailie and Dan take us through the paper and what it means in practice for coaches.

I’m delighted to speak to Dr Andrew Kirkland in this week’s episode. Andrew is a Lecturer in Sports Coaching at the University of Stirling. He is also a member of the General University Ethics Panel, a Chartered Scientist and a BASES Accredited Sport and Exercise Scientist (support & pedagogy). Andrew has worked as a sport physiologist and coach developer at British Cycling and supports others in developing performance environments. Andrew's research philosophy is driven by impact and translation of research into practice. Specifically, he uses Implementation and Behavioural Change Science to explore mental health in sport, 'merging' his practical experience with evidence-based practice with the aim of helping others to develop more effective sporting systems. We discuss a range of topics related to Andrew’s research and experience, including biopsychosocial factors influencing engagement and performance and the mental health of athletes.

I’m delighted to welcome Dr Jerry Lynch and John O’Sullivan back to the show. Jerry is a performance, leadership and coaching expert helping people of all ages and abilities in all arenas of performance to develop the qualities of courage, integrity, fearlessness, tenacity, patience, persistence in order to overcome mental and emotional blocks. Jerry helps individuals and teams to create confidence, mental toughness, inspiration and empowerment for competitive events and to better navigate the unchartered waters of life. He has worked with athletes and teams at universities such as The University of North Carolina, Duke, Maryland, Oregon State, Stanford, Harvard, and more. John is an internationally known speaker for coaches, parents and youth sports organisations, and has spoken for TEDx, the US Olympic Committee, US Soccer, USA Wrestling, USA Swimming, Ireland Rugby, Australian Rugby League and at numerous events around the world. John’s work has been featured by CNN, Outside Magazine, ESPN, NBC Sports and numerous other media entities. John’s background as an athlete and coach led him to start the Changing the Game project with the mission to put the ‘play’ back into ‘play ball’ by providing parents and coaches with the information and resources they need to make sport a healthy, positive, and rewarding experience for their children. John is also a bestselling author and he has teamed up with Jerry for his latest “The Champion Teammate: Timeless Lessons to Connect, Compete and Lead in Sports and Life”. In this fantastic book Jerry and John share wisdom accrued from decades of consultation with well over 100 conference, national, and world championship teams and dozens of Hall of Fame coaches; interviews with hundreds of athletes, coaches, and leadership experts on their Way of Champions Podcast; and hundreds of workshops on being an exceptional teammate, leader, coach, and parent. This book offers a powerful approach to help build better relationships, practice effective leadership, and develop the competitive prowess needed to be an exceptional teammate. Through numerous stories of modern-day athletes, as well as time-honoured lessons garnered from Eastern philosophy, Western psychology, and Native American tradition, this book will guide and mentor you in creating an environment where you and your teammates can connect, compete, and thrive in sports and in life.

I’m delighted to speak to Dr Elizabeth King in this week’s episode. Elizabeth is recognised as a one of Australia’s leading authorities on leadership development. Over the last three decades, she has worked as an advisor, mentor, executive coach, and facilitator, focusing on organisational, team and individual performance in disruptive contexts. Elizabeth has worked with some of the region’s biggest companies, designing and delivering solutions that build the competencies and culture required for navigating complexity. Her PhD thesis "Developing Leaders to perform in uncertainty" provides insight into the challenges facing leaders who are navigating increasing levels of systemic pervasive change and resultant uncertainty. It explores the role that mindfulness might play in developing leaders and their organisations to succeed in such conditions by addressing the challenge of how to develop leaders to perform in uncertainty. Elizabeth has also written a best-selling book on mindfulness in the workplace entitled "Buddha in Pinstripes". In this episode we discuss a brilliant research paper Elizabeth led about navigating team resilience.

In this episode, I’m delighted to be joined by Prof Marc Jones, Dr Carla Meijen and Dr Martin Turner. We discuss The Theory of Challenge and Threat States in Athletes (TCTSA) which provides a psychophysiological framework for how athletes anticipate motivated performance situations. Marc led the original research, along with Carla, in 2009 proposing this theory. Marc, Carla and Martin have conducted many years of research on Challenge and Threat states within a number of competitive environments, including sporting environments. Marc is a Professor of Psychology at Manchester Metropolitan University. He is interested in stress, health and performance and particularly how people perform under pressure. Marc is a registered Sport and Exercise Psychologist and a Chartered Psychologist. Carla is a registered Sport and Exercise Psychologist and Associate Professor in Applied Psychology at St Mary’s University, London where she also leads the MSc in applied Sport Psychology. Carla’s research focuses predominantly on the psychological demands of endurance performance, stress in sport and Challenge and Threat states. Martin is a Reader in Psychology at Manchester Metropolitan University specialising in stress and emotion in performance situations. Martin is particularly interested in the psychophysiological reactions to pressured performance and how research can be used to help individuals reach their potential. 

I’m delighted to speak to educator and author Doug Lemov on this week’s episode. Doug is a former teacher and school principal. Doug’s international bestselling book “Teach like a Champion”, now in its third edition, describes techniques used by exceptional teachers. It has sold more than a million copies and is responsible for transforming classrooms around the world. In his book “The Coach’s Guide to Teaching” Doug 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 and I speak about improving players’ ability to ‘read the game’. Specifically, Doug shares his theory that helping players to develop their reading of the game is similar to helping people to learn to read text. Doug discusses three factors that he feels are crucial for quick and accurate game reading: fluency, vocabulary, and knowledge. Together, we unpack these factors and bring to life how coaches can utilise them in practice.

This week I’m delighted to speak to Dr Kathryn Johnston and Prof Joe Baker. Kathryn currently works at the School of Kinesiology and Health Sciences at York University, Canada as a lecturer and postdoctoral fellow. She teaches a business administration in sport course, and a sport psychology course. Kathryn previously worked with student athletes from a developmental and wellness perspective supporting students during difficult transitions. Joe is the Head of the Lifespan Performance Laboratory in the School of Kinesiology and Health Science, at York University. Joe’s research focuses on optimal human development, largely to understand how someone gets to, and stays at, the highest levels of performance. Kathryn and Joe have co-authored a paper along with Alexander McAuley and Dr Adam Kelly entitled “Language games and blurry terminology: Can clarity enhance athlete development?” and it’s this fascinating paper that we discuss in this episode. 

This week I’m delighted to speak to Prof Andrew Lane and Prof Greg Whyte OBE. Greg is an Olympian in modern pentathlon, and is a European and World Championship medallist. Greg is a Professor of Applied Sport and Exercise Science at Liverpool John Moore’s University and Director of Performance at the Centre for Health and Human Performance. Greg's former roles include Director of Research for the British Olympic Association and Director of Science & Research for the English Institute of Sport. In 2014 Greg was awarded an OBE for his services to Sport, Sport Science and Charity, and was voted as one of the Top 10 Science Communicators in the UK by the British Science Council. Andy is a BASES accredited Sport and Exercise Scientist, a Chartered Sport Psychologist registered with the HCPC, and a Professor of Sport Psychology at the University of Wolverhampton. Andy completed his undergraduate, Masters degree and PhD before becoming a lecturer at Brunel University. He then moved to the University of Wolverhampton where he progressed from Senior Lecturer to Associate Dean. Andy is responsible for developing and implementing a research strategy for staff and doctoral students. Greg, Andy and I discuss the psychology of endurance and we speak about Greg’s incredible documentary ‘Unstoppable: Inside the Mind of the Extreme Athlete’.

I’m excited to speak with Dr Peter Sear in this episode. Peter is the founder of The Empathic Minds Organisation, a company working with coaches and leaders to help their teams and organisations achieve their needs and goals. Specifically assisting in areas such as increasing productivity; developing great leadership; developing cohesive teams; and improving communication.  Peter has a background in psychology and is interested in emotional environments within organisations and the influence of empathic leadership. He completed his PhD in Empathic Leadership of teams in sport. Peter has just released a book on this subject entitled “Empathic Leadership: Lessons from Elite Sport” drawing on his extensive research and experience incorporating the words of leaders of teams to help to explain how empathy can help leaders be successful in their work. And it’s this fantastic book we speak about.

I’m delighted to speak with Dr Robin Taylor and Dr Jamie Taylor in this episode. Jamie is a senior coach developer at Grey Matters, a company specialising in performance enhancement and coaching development for individuals, sporting/cultural organisations and systems. Jamie is also Assistant Professor at Dublin City University working on their Performance programmes. He also coaches academy rugby union at Midlands Central academy.  Robin is an Assistant Professor in Elite Performance at Dublin City University. His research is focused on talent development and he is particularly interested in the holistic role family can play in the development of sporting talent. Robin is a Performance Centre Head Coach within the England Hockey Player Pathway and has worked closely with a range of NGBs and sports organisation supporting player and coach development, and parental engagement. We discuss a brilliant paper Robin and Jamie have written alongside Dr Michael Ashford and Dr Rosie Collins entitled “Contemporary pedagogy? The use of theory in practice: An evidence-informed perspective”.