SportsCoachRadio

Fat burning for endurance sports Bob Seebohar is a lot of things, most of which revolve around elite sports performance. Bob is a specialist in sports dietetics, an exercise physiologist, a strength and conditioning coach, and a USA Triathlon certified elite, youth, and junior coach as well as a competitive endurance athlete himself, including marathons, […]

Strength, sprinting and resilience This week we have the founding father of Functional Sports Training, Vern Gambetta: A real thinking man’s strength and conditioning specialist and a master coach of coaches. Coach Gambetta has been involved in a huge variety of Olympic and professional sports including stints with the New York Mets, Chicago White Sox and Cincinnati Reds […]

World Records and Olympic Champions Harry Marra of the Oregon Track Club is arguably the best active decathlon coach in the world right now. He’s certainly one of my favorite interview guests. And what is indisputable is that he and his charges – Ashton Eaton and Brianne Theisen-Eaton have had one heckuva year. Ashton, of course, won gold in the decathlon in London last year and set a world record. But this year has been an even greater achievement, winning the World Championship in Moscow, the only time a decathlete has done so after topping the Olympic table the year before. Brianne shot up from a respectable 11th in the heptathlon in London all the way to the silver medal in Moscow. Brianne and Ashton also tied the knot early in the season, with Harry playing a special role in the wedding. You'll hear all about it in this interview. Of course you’ll also  find out how this power trio managed to recover so strongly from London and their plans for  next year and for Rio 2016. Sports Coach Radio is hosted by Glenn Whitney, a coaching and leadership psychologist. You can follow us on Twitter, where we post useful articles and coaching tips just about every day of the week. The handle is @sportscoachtalk. And we'd be grateful if you'd leave a short review of the show on the Apple iTunes page. You can also can find  the first interview with Coach Marra in the Sports Coach Radio dot com archives almost exactly a year ago, on October 23, 2012.  

Overcoming limits, optimal nutrition How many female athletes in the 21st century have won gold medals in two Olympics in a row? Hopefully somebody listening can figure that out but my semi educated guess is very few. Erin Cafaro has, and she’s done it in the brutally taxing sport of rowing. She was a key member of the U.S. women’s heavyweight 8 that won gold in Beijing and in London. In addition to her Olympic triumphs, she also won gold medals at the 2009 World Championships in two different boats, the eight and the pair, an unprecedented achievement in the modern era of US Rowing. It’s even more remarkable if you consider Erin is quite a bit on the short side to be a world class rower. She’s talks all about it in this interview. Erin is pretty sure she’s retired from Olympic rowing and is now focusing her energies on coaching CrossFit athletes on indoor rowing as well as building an innovative sports drink company called 3FU3L. Sports Coach Radio is hosted by Glenn Whitney, a coaching and leadership psychologist. You can follow us on Twitter, where we post useful articles and coaching tips just about every day of the week. The handle is @sportscoachtalk. And we'd be grateful if you'd leave a short review of the show on the Apple iTunes page.

Mental toughness, anti-doping crusader Here's Part 2 of our interview with Olympic Gold Medal Winning Marathoner and distance running guru Frank Shorter, which took place at his home in Boulder, Colorado.

Master motivator and community builder What a year it’s been so far for Jim Larrañaga: A 29 and 7 record coaching the University of Miami Hurricanes basketball team, reaching the NCAA Sweet 16. The Associated Press Coach of the Year Award. And very recently a new contract with the ‘Canes that will take him to 2022. If all continues going well, Larrañaga will be a leader in top level college basketball about a decade beyond the retirement age of most of his peers. Sports Coach Radio is hosted by Glenn Whitney, a coaching and leadership psychologist. You can follow us on Twitter, where we post useful articles and coaching tips just about every day of the week. The handle is @sportscoachtalk. And we'd be grateful if you'd leave a short review of the show on the Apple iTunes page. Coach Larrañaga accepted the University of Miami job in April 2011, after having led George Mason University in Virginia for 14 seasons, compiling a 68% win record and making the NCAA Final Four in 2006. Before that he was at Bowling Green in Ohio for 11 seasons, winning 58% of their games.

Tennis psychology, professional coach development Just in time for the US Open we have a tennis expert who is, most impressively, this year's winner of the Doc Counsilman Science Award, part of the U.S. Olympic Committee's Coaches of the Year accolades. Doug is a Master Professional with the US Professional Tennis Association and an International Master Professional with the Professional Tennis Registry, one of just 10 people worldwide to hold both honors. Doug is co-chair of the USPTA National Education Committee and College Curriculum Committee and has worked with athletes of all levels, including ITF, WTA and Davis Cup players. In addition, Doug teaches and consults in sport psychology and physical training and does technical and tactical research. He has both a PhD in chemical engineering and an Educational Doctorate in Sports Psychology. Sports Coach Radio is hosted by Glenn Whitney, a coaching and leadership psychologist. You can follow us on Twitter, where we post useful articles and coaching tips just about every day of the week. The handle is @sportscoachtalk. And we'd be grateful if you'd leave a short review of the show on the Apple iTunes page.

Strength training for distance runners & triathletes Power, speed and endurance are the three essential components of high performance in most sports. This week’s guest is an expert on developing them in a coherent and comprehensive way. Brian Mackenzie is the creator of CrossFit Endurance, a fitness methodology and network of gyms across the country focused on strength and conditioning for endurance athletes. And Brian is author of the book called, what else? Power, Speed, Endurance. He is also co-founder, along with double Olympic gold medal rower Erin Cafaro, of an innovative energy supplement that uses fat and protein as well as carbohydrate called 3Fuel.

Leanda Cave and Mirinda Carfrae Coach It's an honor to be joined by one of the world’s leading triathlon coaches, Siri Lindley. Team Sirius, as Siri's Boulder, Colorado-based squad is called, boasts several of elite triathlon’s most successful athletes, including Leanda Cave and Mirinda Carfrae,  both women are consistently in top three in the world in long-course triathlon, plus the men Chris Foster and Damon Barnett . Siri has been coaching since she retired from competition about ten years ago. She was the number-one ranked triathlete in the world in 2001 and 2002 and also ITU World Champion in 2002. Sports Coach Radio is hosted by Glenn Whitney, a coaching and leadership psychologist. You can follow us on Twitter, where we post useful articles and coaching tips just about every day of the week. The handle is @sportscoachtalk. And we'd be grateful if you'd leave a short review of the show on the Apple iTunes page.

Sports psychology, positive self-talk, visualizations, mantras Jack Yee is the Mental Toughness Guy, a strength and conditioning coach who specializes in firming up the muscles between an athlete’s ears as much as any other body part. His primary focus is CrossFit training, which is a high-intensity method that combines in equal measure speed, endurance and explosive strength – it’s not for the faint-hearted. Sports Coach Radio is hosted by Glenn Whitney, a coaching and leadership psychologist. You can follow us on Twitter, where we post useful articles and coaching tips just about every day of the week. The handle is @sportscoachtalk. And we'd be grateful if you'd leave a short review of the show on the Apple iTunes page. Jack is based in Amherst, Massachusetts and writes a highly engaging blog called mentaltoughnessguy.com, subtitled The Psychology of How to Get Over Adversity.

Cycling, Lance Armstrong, Doping This week cyclist Tyler Hamilton joins us on Sports Coach Radio. Once Lance Armstrong’s most-trusted lieutenant, Tyler went on to become one of his biggest rivals and then one of his most devastating adversaries. Tyler has experienced the greatest highest and deepest lows in professional cycling: a Tour de France stage victory, an Olympic Gold medal and huge winnings. And then suspended twice for using illegal drugs, stripped of titles and shunned by his peers. He was one of the first riders of his generation to be punished for cheating, but certainly not the last. Sports Coach Radio is hosted by Glenn Whitney, a coaching and leadership psychologist. You can follow us on Twitter, where we post useful articles and coaching tips just about every day of the week. The handle is @sportscoachtalk. And we'd be grateful if you'd leave a short review of the show on the Apple iTunes page. Tyler is now coaching mostly amateur riders via his company Tyler Hamilton Training. We caught up with him recently over the telephone from his base in Missoula, Montana.                        

Moulding responsible young men, Social influence It's an honor to be joined by Grant Teaff one of the country's most experienced and successful college football coaches and administrators. Coach Teaff has been executive director of the American Football Coaches Association since 1994, guiding coach development and administration across the country for the AFCA, which has over 12,000 members. He is the author of six books, including the focus of today's interview A Coach’s Influence: Beyond the Game, which takes a penetrating looks at the serious social problems facing young athletes in all sports, and how coaches can best deal with those issues. Sports Coach Radio is hosted by Glenn Whitney, a coaching and leadership psychologist. You can follow us on Twitter, where we post useful articles and coaching tips just about every day of the week. The handle is @sportscoachtalk. And we'd be grateful if you'd leave a short review of the show on the Apple iTunes page. Coach Teaff's on-field career spanned 37 years, including 20 at Baylor University in Texas, where he turned the program around and transformed it into a regional powerhouse. He's the recipient of just about every hall-of-fame award out there and was several times named regional and national coach of the year.

Training compliance & commitment This week we're taking a close look at the psychology of movement and exercise. Deborah Feltz, distinguished professor in the Department of Kinesiology at Michigan State University joins us for a wide-ranging conversation. We'll be talking about self efficacy, in other words, a person's ability to complete tasks and reach goals. Specifically we'll be looking at the interrelationships of self-efficacy, motivation and performance among young athletes, teams, and coaches. Professor Feltz also does research on groups of exercisers and on using gaming technology to increase motivation, commitment and compliance to meet training goals. Sports Coach Radio is hosted by Glenn Whitney, a coaching and leadership psychologist. You can follow us on Twitter, where we post useful articles and coaching tips just about every day of the week. The handle is @sportscoachtalk. And we'd be grateful if you'd leave a short review of the show on the Apple iTunes page.

Team dynamics, tactics & intensity Very, very few coaches have brought both a men’s team and a women’s team to an Olympic championship final. Hugh McCutcheon has, winning gold for the USA male volleyball squad in Beijing and silver for the female squad in London. Hugh, who was born and raised in New Zealand, also has a novel perspective on elite team performance in the  U.S. being the rare non American to head a top Olympic team. Sports Coach Radio is hosted by Glenn Whitney, a coaching and leadership psychologist. You can follow us on Twitter, where we post useful articles and coaching tips just about every day of the week. The handle is @sportscoachtalk. And we'd be grateful if you'd leave a short review of the show on the Apple iTunes page. Hugh is currently head coach of the women’s volleyball team at the University of Minnesota. We had a fascinating and wide-ranging chat recently about his extensive professional development journey, the differences between male and female athletes, the American high-performance sports culture and lots more.  

NCAA Division I, Mike Muscala, Communication Big league college basketball is in focus this week on Sports Coach Radio. We’re joined by Dave Paulsen, head coach of the Bucknell University men’s team. Dave is an inspiring member of a younger generation of emotionally intelligent basketball coaches who achieve great results with today’s somewhat more demanding young athletes. Sports Coach Radio is hosted by Glenn Whitney, a coaching and leadership psychologist. You can follow us on Twitter, where we post useful articles and coaching tips just about every day of the week. The handle is @sportscoachtalk. And we'd be grateful if you'd leave a short review of the show on the Apple iTunes page. Dave Paulsen has steadily worked his way up the coaching ranks, spending his first 14 years as a head coach with NC double A Division II and III schools. His most successful stint was at his alma mater, Williams, the elite “Little Ivy” college in north western Massachusetts. He posted a 76 per cent winning record during six seasons at Williams. Dave moved up to Division I Bucknell, in central Pennsylvania, in 2008. There he experienced a first season best characterized as “challenging” – winning 7 and losing 23. Since then it’s been onward and upward: a 14 and 17 record in 2009-10, 25 and 9 in 2010-11, 25 and 10 in 2011-12, reaching the second round of the NCAA Tournament and this past season, the record in the history of the school 28 and 5 when Bucknell again reached the second round of the tournament. If this rate of improvement continues, we’re going to hear quite a lot about Dave Paulsen over the coming years. He was jointly named the National Association of Basketball Coaches District 13 Coach of the Year. We caught up with him the other day en route to his daughter's lacrosse game. Now normally we say don't drive and philosophize about coaching at at the same time, but Dave does rather a good job at it. Highlights - Respect needed for the coach more than liking - Primacy of the team will always win out over the individual - "The longer I coach the more important values become." - Bucknell Basketball Core Values: Passion, Talk, Toughness & Focus - Compel them to communicate, if not punish them - On verbal and physical coaching abuse at Rutgers: "Shocking"