Pacey Performance Podcast

This week's Pacey Performance Podcast is all about data visualisation and communication. Eva Murray, Lead Evangelist at Snowflake, Julian Haigh, Director of Sport Science at Inter Miami and Adam Sheehan, Strength and Conditioning Coach at Munster Rugby are our guests today. We are all dealing with more data in aour daily lives whether that be from fitness trackers to smart meters in our homes to track our electricity usage. But those working in pro sport are collecting hundreds of thousands of rows of data each day and are expected to communicate that back to coaches. But how can we best do that? That's what the next hour is all about. In the first half of this episode we focus on the first step in this process which is asking the right question. If we're not asking the right question, how can we come up with the right answer? We then dive into the experiences of Eva, Adam and Julian who each explain their experiences, good and bad when it comes to delivering messages using data to coaches. In the second half of the episode we discuss the various methods of visualising data, which ones have been successful and how data visualisation software has become an integral part of a sports scientist’s armory. If you are interested in making the most of your data and want to make a real impact with it, check out this episode with Adam, Eva and Julian. Main talking points - How to know that you're asking the right question Leveraging data using data visualisations Options for data visualisations "If you can't explain it, don't use it" How to best create context around data The importance of storytelling within data Data visualisation rules - the fundamentals

Jack, Perry and Matt featured on episode #441 of the Pacey Performance Podcast. This #bitesize episode takes a great clip from that episode where they discussed - How we alter training during periods of intense growth Monitoring growth and maturation Using growth and maturation data effectively Check out the full episode with Jack, Perry and Matt here - How the best football academies in the world develop their players This episode is supported by RockDaisy, the only FREE AMS on the market. AMS Lite features reporting capabilities, questionnaires and forms, alerts and communication, data sharing, data visualisation and calendar views.

In this episode of the Pacey Performance Podcast, Rob is speaking to Podiatrist & Research Scientist at Aspetar, Athol Thomson. Athol is on the podcast to speak about the impact of athlete footwear on performance and injury risk but also about playing surface and how that affects injury risk. But not only that, he is hear to give recommendations for what practitioners can do to reduce these risks. In the first half of the episode Athol discusses what impact footwear can have on injuries from a global perspective. He then dives into the detail when it comes to footwear that is made for soft ground, hard ground and artificial ground. This leads to him discussing rotational forces and why its important to consider these forces when advising on footwear. In the second half of the episode he discusses if we can mitigate some of the unresearched (but well discussed) issues when transitioning between different surfaces. And can practitioners get a better, more detailed idea about the playing surface prior to his/her players running out so more objective decisions can be made on footwear selection. This is an under discussed area among the sports science and S&C community but it could have a huge impact on our athletes injury risk should we understand more. Give it a listen! Main talking points - Population specific footwear "Pink it and shrink it" philosophy of boot manufactuers Guidance for practitioners on understanding their playing surfaces better Shoe selection and playing surface The importance of understanding rotational forces and footwear Training the foot - this could be a big topic if you're up for going deeper on it? Boot selection and injury risk  

Chris, Dave and Des featured on episode #400 of the Pacey Performance Podcast. This #bitesize episode takes a great clip from that episode where they discussed - What makes a CV stand out from the crowd? How long should a CV and cover letter be? What should and shouldn't be in a CV and cover letter? Check out the full episode with Chris, Des and Dave here - https://www.sportsmith.co/listen/getting-and-keeping-a-strength-and-conditioning-role/ This episode is supported by RockDaisy, the only FREE AMS on the market. AMS Lite features reporting capabilities, questionnaires and forms, alerts and communication, data sharing, data visualisation and calendar views.

This week on the Pacey Performance Podcast we have 3 absolute guns within our industry: Director of Speed Development at the Houston Texans, Ryan Grubbs, Professor at the University of Saint-Etienne. JB Morin and Owner of Spellman Performance, Les Spellman. This episode of the podcast is all about sprint profiling and there are no better three people to discuss this than JB, Les and Ryan. We kick off the first half of the conversation with Ryan explaining why we should be profiling our athletes in the first place. JB and Les then weigh in on the various ways we can go about that with our athletes. Then, in our opinion, the key part of this conversation then turns to how we use this information to inform our coaching practice. In the second half of the episode we then chat about the logistics of undertaking profiling within various different environments and with various populations. How do we profile with large groups, should we be profiling youth athletes and what is the difference between and acceleration profile and a max speed profile are all questions that get answered. If you want to dive into this topic, there is no better people than these three. Make sure you give it a listen. Main talking points - Why it is essential to profile our athletes The various ways we can profile our athletes How we use data to inform our coaching practice Profiling large groups of athletes Profiling acceleration vs maximal speed

Cam featured on episode #393 of the Pacey Performance Podcast. This #bitesize episode takes a great clip from that episode where he discussed - How to create sprint drills that do the cueing for us Why we tend to say too much as coaches Other tips for cueing sprinting Check out the full episode with Cam here - https://www.sportsmith.co/listen/what-speed-training-methods-should-team-sport-coaches-take-from-track-field-and-what-they-shouldnt/ This episode is supported by RockDaisy, the only FREE AMS on the market. AMS Lite features reporting capabilities, questionnaires and forms, alerts and communication, data sharing, data visualisation and calendar views.

This week on the Pacey Performance Podcast is Athletic Development Coach at Speedworks, Hailu Theodros. Hailu spoke recently at the Sportsmith speed conference about gamespeed and his talk was incredible so to get him on the podcast was a complete no brainer. In the first half of our chat we discuss deceleration and its part in improving change of direction ability. Hailu spends a lot of time explain "sitting" versus "folding" when it comes to the final few steps of a deceleration and reacceleration. He describes why sitting is so important and how we can coach our athletes into that position using a number of drills and various different cues. In the second half of the episode, Hailu focuses on transitional movements, what they are, why they are so important and how we can create drills to develop them. Transitional movements are those that link other more talked about movements like deceleration, reacceleration, cutting etc. He uses the example of a central defender in football (soccer) and their pursuit of an attacker looking for the ball. This a fascinating look at the more micromovements of sport and how we can develop them. If you're looking to improve the change of direction ability of your athletes and understand how to decipher what they need to develop first, this episode with Hailu is for you. Main talking points - Developing change of direction ability Deceleration assessments "Folding" vs "sitting" when decelerating and reaccelerating Coaching the skill of change of direction How do you go about coaching someone who spends too long in the "hole" How does deceleration strategy differ when the athlete is coming to a stop versus reaccelerating? What are "transitional movements"? How do we go about identifying whats needed under this movement umbrella? Example drills and what to look out for

On this week's Pacey Performance Podcast, Rob is speaking with Graeme Close, James Morehen and Hannah Sheridan. This roundtable was recorded as a Sportsmith Live but it was so good, we had to release it as a podcast. We kick off this sports nutrition roundtable with Graeme diving deep into CBD. He gives us an update on its legality but also its potential benefits for recovery, sleep and improved mental health. But there is obvious caution with this supplement so Graeme caveats all this with WADA's position on it from an anti-doping perspective. James then gives his take on supplements and his "food first" approach. Given his role within rugby where muscle mass is often a goal, he explains his rationale for when supplements do have value. In the second half, Hannah shares her experiences of working in youth football and her nutrition principles when assisting this population. Cooking lessons and how she educates the young players are all discussed. We finish off the podcast with a group discussion on "boosting" immune health and how important this is for athletes as well as coaches. Main talking points - Within-game refuelling CBD, its legality and its potential benefits A "food first" approach to supplementation Supplements: what can we really trust? Nutrition principles in youth sport Immune health and how to improve it

Molly featured on episode #370 of the Pacey Performance Podcast. This #bitesize episode takes a great clip from that episode where she discussed - Why she took out all change of direction testing with her basketball athletes Do any tests bring any value How she gets measures of improvement instead Check out the full episode with Molly here - https://www.sportsmith.co/listen/enhancing-change-of-direction-speed-and-agility-in-the-real-world/ This episode is supported by RockDaisy, the only FREE AMS on the market. AMS Lite features reporting capabilities, questionnaires and forms, alerts and communication, data sharing, data visualisation and calendar views.

On this week's Pacey Performance Podcast, Rob is speaking to First Team Strength and Conditioning Coach at PSV Eindhoven, Jermaine McCubbine. Jermaine has worked at PSV for a number of years, progressing from an academy position into a role within the first team. Jermaine's journey and the work he is doing at PSV as an English practitioner is why we wanted to get him on the podcast. He is actually started out as a sports therapist which led this conversation nicely into something Jermaine has spoken about before which is the "hybrid" S&C coach. Being an S&C coach is becoming so much more than coaching athletes in the gym or weightroom. Data analysis and rehabilitation are just two areas that S&C coaches now need to confident in so we chat to Jermaine about how he has gone about upskilling in these two areas. In the first half of the conversation, he also describes how he works with the coaching staff to create conditioning drills that not only tick the physical development box, but also encorporate technical aspects too. And its not just all about small sided games! Given Jermaine's background as a therapist, we also dive into the rehabilitation of football's most common injury, the hamstring. He takes us through a rehab with a hypothetical athlete, detailing his benchmarks, his exercise prescription and how things we change based on the reaction of the injury along the journey. If you're interested in working overseas and want a route to get there, or want to hear want one of Europe's biggest do with their players, check out this episode. Main talking points: Getting a job and working overseas The modern day "hybrid" S&C coach Preparing for an increased influence/expectation on RTP Preparing for an increased demand on data analysis skills Conditioning and reconditioning players at the highest level - Is it all about SSG's? Top-ups - how do you keep non-starters conditioned and fresh? Returning a player from a hamstring injury