The Sport Psych Show

I’m excited to speak with Rugby 7's coach, Warren Abrahams in this episode. Warren started out playing rugby in South Africa before moving to the UK where he began to focus on coaching. He has since held a series of coaching roles including with London Irish, Harlequins, Lithuania 7's & England 7's. He is now coaching the German National 7's team. We speak about being a student of the game; developing resilience; the importance of ‘play’; ‘chaotic’ training sessions and the role of psychology in s

I have the pleasure of being joined by Author and Performance Expert, Fergus Connolly in this episode. Fergus has worked work with Bolton Wanderers, Welsh Rugby, San Francisco 49ers, Michigan Football, Blackburn FC, Liverpool FC and many more teams globally. He has also written two fantastic books 'Game Changer' and his latest book '59 Lessons: Working with the World's Greatest Coaches, Athletes, & Special Forces'. And it’s this new book that we focus on in this episode.

I’m delighted to speak with sport psychologist at Benfica Football Club, Dr Pedro L Almeida in this episode. Pedro has been a sport psychologist at Benfica for coming up to 25 years. During this time he has accumulated a wealth of experience working with players of all ages from youth team players through to some of the best players in the world. Pedro is also Assistant Professor at Instituto Universitário in Lisbon.

In this episode I speak with performance psychologist for Blackburn Rovers FC and GB Para Table Tennis, Dr Andy Hill. Andy completed his undergraduate and master degrees in coaching and then went on to do his PhD looking at ‘What makes the elite, elite?’. He works with competitors to help them get the very best out of their ability and with coaches to help increase their understanding of the Psychological Characteristics of Developing Excellence (PCDEs).

I’m excited to have assistant coach for the Chicago Red Stars, Gary Curneen on this episode. Gary has held various coaching positions over the years and played collegiate soccer at Wingate University. Gary is founder of the Modern Soccer Coach which aims to create and help develop elite coaches through books, coaching clinics, podcasts and webinars. We speak about overcoming insecurities as a player; learning there’s more to coaching than x’s and o’s; coming up with innovative ideas to engage playe

I have the pleasure of being joined by Lauren Abarca - Mental Conditioning Coordinator with the New York Yankees. Lauren is an experienced soccer player competing for the University of San Francisco & Point Loma Nazarene University. In this time she completed her B.A. in Kinesiology with a Minor in Psychology. Lauren acquired a passion for improving sports performance through mental strengthening and went on to receive her Master's in Performance Psychology from National University.

In this episode I speak with former Olympic rower Annie Vernon. Annie is an Olympic silver medallist and 2x time World Champion. She is now a respected sports journalist and has written a fantastic book entitled Mind Games - Determination, Doubt and Lucky Socks: An Insider's Guide to the Psychology of Elite Athletes. Through interviews with leading sports stars & the latest scientific research, Mind Games looks at how elite sports performers harness the power of their mind in pursuit of physical perfection.

I have the pleasure of being joined by basketball coach Carly Clarke in this episode. Carly has been the Head Coach of Ryerson Women's Basketball since 2012 and is the Canadian Women's National Team Assistant Coach. Prior to coaching, Carly had a successful college playing career, playing 5 seasons at Bishop’s University. This led to an assistant coaching role at Dalhousie. She then took up her first head coaching role at University of Prince Edward Island.

This week is Clean Sport Week in the UK. Clean Sport Week is an initiative run by UKAD (UK Anti-Doping) and is an opportunity to come together and celebrate the important values of clean sport and support the hard work that sport in the UK is doing in the fight against doping. This year the focus is on Image and Performance Enhancing Drugs (IPEDs), and in particular the use of IPEDs within the gym environment. I'm joined by Dr Claire-Marie Roberts to discuss the psychology behind drug use in sport.

In this episode I speak with chartered occupational psychologist, Sarah Broadhead. Sarah is currently GB Taekwondo team psychologist and has worked with a range of sports including British Swimming, GB Canoeing, Archery GB, UK Athletics, Formula 3 motor racing. Sarah was part of the Director team that created Chimp Management with Prof Steve Peters. She now has her own company which gives individuals and organisations in sport and business the insight, skills and support they need to perform and thrive.

I’m delighted to be joined by leading sport and performance psychologist Dr Andrea Furst in this episode. Andrea currently works with Surrey cricket and GB and England Hockey as well as having her own consultancy. She's been involved in 4 Olympic and para-Olympic games, specifically in Australian sprint canoe-kayak, 100m hurdle, long jump, triathlon, as well as sailing and swimming for Singapore. Andrea was psychologist to the gold medal winning Great Britain women’s hockey team in Rio 2016.

I have the pleasure of being joined by David White in this episode. David is a public speaker, national learning facilitator, consultant and performance coach. He's recently released a fascinating book called 'Superstitionism - The Psychology of Sport' which looks at the role superstition plays for athletes in all sports the world over. And it’s this book we focus on during our chat, specifically: superstition as a belief system; why athletes have superstitions; luck vs chance and probability; self-talk.

I'm joined by coaching expert, speaker, educator and author Coach Reed Maltbie in this episode. Reed is founder of Raising Excellence, a company working with educators, coaches, parents, athletes, and sports leaders to develop more effective sports participation models. Previously Chief Content Officer for the Changing the Game Project, Reed has been coaching excellence beyond the game for 26 years and has become an internationally respected expert on youth sport.

In this episode I speak with inspirational consultant, coach and facilitator Paul Z Jackson. Paul devises and runs training courses and development programmes in change, strategy, leadership, teamwork, performance improvement and innovation and he’s actually been a big influence on my career since I attended one of his courses. Paul’s Solutions Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) courses have led hundreds of people and organisations through positive processes of change. And in this podcast, we focus on SFBT.

I have the pleasure of being joined by Dr Mustafa Sarkar and Clara Swedlund. Mustafa is Senior Lecturer in Sport and Exercise Psychology at Nottingham Trent University. He works with coaches and organisations helping them to develop resilience in athletes and teams. Clara is currently undertaking a Masters degree in Sport and Exercise Psychology at Loughborough University. She also runs a blog and on it she wrote a post that was based on an article Mustafa co-wrote about resilience.