Brain In The Game Sport Mind Coaching Podcast

In this episode I have a treat for you. I wanted to replay a recent interview I did on Make it Simple TV . Heather Porter and Andrew McCauley of Autopilot Your Business and I had a great discussion about key practical tips that work, not only for the elite athlete, but also for the elite business person too. This interview uncovers some current thinking on successful performance philosophies and t...

When we hear the phrase "Time Management" it is normally in the context of business –⁠ either from our boss questioning the management of our time, or us observing others time (or poor time) time management and the equality that brings. However, as sport evolves and becomes more and more like a business, the coaching sphere has to become more professional. So the effectiveness and efficiency of at...

We will be looking at the fast and dynamic shift in the coaching profession In this the first episode of the year, I share some of the observations I made in last year and current trend in the way coaching is going. This focal shift is leaving some coaches scrambling for their identity and holding on too tight. We understand the need for athletes to calibrate their performance, grow and evolv...

[NEWS FLASH] Sport has changed! The world of sport today is a far cry from the world of sport 20, 15 even 10 years ago. Today it is a high pressure, high demand, high powered multi billion dollar industry and one that can deliver the greatest of highs and the thumping lows –⁠ all in the space of a weekend. And this rapidly changing face of sport is being driven by the ever increasing expectation o...

Hypnosis is one of the fastest growing tools being used by elite and professional athletes to help overcome performance issues and build sustainability. Gone are the days of hypnosis being tarnished as a sideshow act, hidden in backrooms or seedy clinics. Today the elite of the elite are seeing it as the secret weapon in their competitive arsenal. Hypnosis was often thought of as something to anec...

As a coach, you know it’s what makes champions - consistency in placing and performing. As an athlete we hear it all the time, 'You need to be more consistent.' As parents you want to understand what in the heck they are all on about! So, what is consistency and how do we create it? In this episode of Brain in the Game we unpack the commodity that is consistency, we explore its benefits...

Do you find yourself regularly second guessing or doubting yourself? It is somewhat accepted human nature to occasionally catch yourself doubting something you have done, said or believed in. It is how we as a species ensure we are balanced and socially compliant, by periodically gauging ourselves with the world around us, those we interact with and socially accepted 'norms.' As an elite athlete,...

When you commit to that three way relationship of coach, athlete and parent it should be a wonderfully dynamic and rewarding trip. However it is more likely to be one of the most volatile and stressful relationships that can have a very detrimental impact on the outcome. And really –⁠ it doesn’t have to be this way, it should be a unison, a synergistic team and a finely tuned grand design of...

As an athlete, does your coach sometimes say things to you that confuses you and changes the way you perceive their coaching? Do you sometimes miss the point of the technical or corrective coaching? Or does what others think influence your performance? If you answered YES to any of these then you need to build better mental and emotional resilience! This episode will show you how to effectively un...

Is what you see, really what you see... or what you think you see? In this episode of  Brain in the Game  we explore how we can embed better commands into our neurology in a way to guarantee better performance. As an athlete we rely heavily on getting our bodies to do certain things based on our internal understanding of the skill, our internal image and interpretation of what it should...

In this episode we seek to understand what makes an athlete confident, how to identify it and how to own it. We also look at different ways of sustaining your confidence. When you see an athlete that exudes confidence, they have that certain swagger, that bubbling charisma, that relaxed almost taunting persona. We delve into the pits of loss of confidence. We have all been there, we have all been...

Not all performances are equal After reaching a milestone or having a stellar season, many athletes fear losing skills or losing the ability to perform at their peak. We often see an outstanding performance from an outstanding athlete - and then it appears they cannot replicate it again. Some athletes justify it with the performance peaks and valleys. Others say it’s all about maintaining the work...

In this episode we talk preparation and performance strategy. We combat the competitor's influence over your performance. We introduce little grey blobs into your arsenal - giving you more control over them than they could ever have over you. As an athlete we instinctively look at our competitors and wonder what they are training like, what they are doing, what skills they have prepared for this s...

Just when you thought you knew how to process information, in comes the 3D Coach –⁠ Check it out and add measurable depth to your current coaching programme. Download our 3D Coach template here and start transforming the way you visualise and analyse elite performance: https://www.smartmind.com/3D-coach The 3D coach is a behavioural perspective exercise, one that gives a multi dimensiona...

In this episode of  Brain in the Game  we take a look at just how we change the way we, as coaches, view our role and take a closer look at some of the skills we need in order to thrive at the top of our field. What if I told you in order to become an effective coach, you need to become an effective salesman? Most people view salesmen as people to be wary of, people who are trying to sel...

In this ever increasing accessibility to knowledge through the open portal that is the web, we have more information at our fingertips today about advanced neuroscience than ever before, with more to come tomorrow. And as someone who is geekily obsessed by this exciting new world, about the possibilities of humanity and how we can use this knowledge to better tomorrow –⁠ I have noticed a...

In this episode of Brain in the Game episode #15, we look at how we create realistic sustainability and longevity in our athlete's career. Teaching them how to turn on and off to be either the student, the performer or to switch off to recharge and conserve. That old saying 'Eat, Sleep, Drink and Breathe your sport' isn’t a sustainable model and we can certainly manage our athletes better. In this...

So you're not getting the results you were looking for as an athlete, a coach or even in life. And maybe you know you can achieve much, much more but not sure exactly how to get started... It’s a common scenario and one we have all experienced on some level. What makes the difference IS the difference –⁠ what specifically do you need to do to change it up, to take it to a whole new level of perfor...

In this episode we seek to understand why this most important coaching and performing tool isn’t utilised to its full potential and what are the most common mistakes made. We know in order to be a champion athlete we need to be consistent in our performance, to sustainably replicate those standout games, results and skills. We also understand that there are physical constraints to training at this...

Unpacking the steps to take to traverse from amateur athlete, to professional athlete thinking. We look at the specific steps an athlete can to follow in order to create the right internal and external environment to achieve. As an amateur we are expected to do everything ourselves, from manage our physical and technical development, our recovery, our emotional welfare and to even look after our o...

Clarification allows us to better understand and apply our interpretations So having an opportunity to ask key questions, gain specificity and identify relevance is an important aspect of effective learning and application. In Episode 11.1 (Part A), we delved deep into the first part of your top 10 most asked questions, these included setting goals, keeping on track, managing emotions, painful per...

A lot of emphasis is traditionally placed on the physical aspect of coaching athletes as coaches are taught how to identify, prepare and manage an athletes physical and technical needs. However what many coaches are finding difficult as the science of physically preparing an athlete becomes more and more readily available is the difference that makes a difference, that certain something... the X f...

Anchoring is one of those skills innate to us all. To create an anchor builds a cognitive link between our behaviours, our patterns, our emotions and our actions through associations and neurological cataloguing. With certain actions triggering specific responses, building a catalogue of behavioural blueprints can be beneficial when performing under pressure and knowing which trigger fires wh...

A lot of emphasis is placed on the mental toughness of athletes these days, so in this episode we explore what it takes for an athlete to push through when others would fold. Every athlete gets impacted by their emotions and, if unchecked and uncontrolled, it can lead to choking. So if we don’t manage the fall out and, better still, immunise against it happening in the future - it really can be a...

We explore that fickle thing called momentum and why it is so important to understand in order to stay on the sporting trajectory we have planned for our career. When something arises that is unforeseen, your momentum is often brought to a grinding holt. Even forseen circumstances such as end of season, end of contract, a change in code or injury – can often interrupt the momentum you have created...