The Athlete Development Show

Today on the show , I'm winding the clock back to May 2020 when I sat down with my good friend Samuel McKenzie .  In 2019, Sam completed his Master's degree at AUT University focusing on 1st XV rugby players' perceptions of their coaching environment. Sam's research findings have had a huge impact on the way I think about environments for developing skilled, creative and resili...

This week's conversation is with Zane Winslade . Zane is the owner of Flow Sport Mental Performance Coaching, and works with athletes from youth to the elite level across multiple codes. Zane has a a Bachelor’s degree in Sports and Leisure Studies, a Graduate Diploma in Teaching and a Master’s degree in Sport Psychology from John F Kennedy University. On the show today , Zane shares how he wo...

Head of coaching at Birkenhead United FC in Auckland, New Zealand and Co-founder of Player Development Project , Dave Wright ( @davewright07 ), rejoins me for another episode of The Curious Mind. How much is too much? In this conversation, we dig into training load. We discuss what load is, where it comes from, how it changes across developmental stages, the danger of doing too much, and how to st...

Living a life in balance is about finding flow. It's about capitalising on all of the things that make you a better person without one of them taking over the flow. My guest on today's show is Reed Maltbie , and he's a master at helping athletes find flow. With a Master’s degree in sports psychology and early childhood development and 30 years of professional coaching experience, Re...

When we value how movement helps us grow, we see invitations to move everywhere we look. In this conversation, I'm bringing two very special people together to share their efforts to change the movement culture inside primary schools in New Zealand. The first is Celia Fleck . For the past 3 and a half years, Celia has been working on a joint government initiative between Te Whatu Ora, the Min...

There are two types of people in the world - managers, and leaders. Managers work hard to maintain the status quo that their jobs and reputations were built on. They seek comfort in the certainty of the way things have always been done. Leaders, on the other hand, seek change. They imagine a better world, and are driven to create it. My guest on today's show is, without doubt, a leader. His n...

James Leath ( @jamesleath ) has been coaching student-athletes for over 20 years. He has a master's degree in performance psychology and has worked with companies like IMG Academy, MINDBODY INC, and Under Armour. He currently works with EXOS Human Performance in the US. James has a new book out, entitled "Team Building Activities for Athletes: How to master the art of building a successf...

On the show today, I'm winding the clock back to December 2021 to when I sat down with Professor Arne Güllich . Arne is a sports scientist and researcher at Technical University of Kaiserslautern, in Germany. He's published over 100 peer-reviewed articles, including his latest paper "What Makes a Champion? Early Multidisciplinary Practice, Not Early Specialization, Predicts World-Cl...

Today I'm stoked to welcome Dr Balin Cupples , head of performance at the One NZ Warriors. What I love about Balin's story, and why I brought him on the show, is the insight he brings at the intersection between science and practice. Balin has a strong academic background, having earned a Bachelor of Education, a Master of Education, and not long ago a PhD from the University of Sydney....

In this episode of the Curious Mind, Dave Wright, founder of Player Development Project , and I reflect on our summer break in Aotearoa, including how our emotions affect the experiences of our children and athletes.  We also dig into: Social status, the ego and the risk of adult intervention devoid of awareness; Praise versus affirmation ; The monkey mind; The importance of role modelling; Gettin...

This week, I'm excited to be talking with Young People's Lead at Athletics New Zealand , Fiona Maisey. It's a relatively new role for the organisation, yet super important considering 82% of registered participants in the sport are under the age of 18. Fiona brings a diverse background to the position, including many years practising as a nurse, parenting 4 boys, and a passion for m...

Host one of Craig's talks at your club or school Sign-up to receive Craig's free newsletter Ben Old ( @_oldie8 ) played his football in Auckland as a kid before moving to Wellington as a 16 year old to join the Wellington Phoenix . After 3 years playing for the Academy he signed a deal to play professionally for the first team and made his debut as a substitute in the team's 3–0 win...

On the show today, I'm winding the clock back a couple of years to when I sat down with Dr Katie Cunningham to talk about joy.   Dr Katie Cunningham is an Associate Professor of Literacy and English Education at Manhattanville College and the author of "Start With Joy: Designing Literacy Learning for Student Happiness" .  In her book, Katie describes 7 pillars at the heart of joyful...

Host one of Craig's talks at your club or school Sign-up to receive Craig's free newsletter Welcome to episode #04 of The Curious Mind,  our new format of The Athlete Development Show released monthly where Craig sits down with co-founder of Player Development Project and coach Dave Wright to discuss your questions. Please submit your questions for future episodes by flicking Craig a mes...

Host one of Craig's talks at your club or school Sign-up to receive Craig's free newsletter What really is talent? And how do we measure it? My guest on today's show suggests we are a long way off answering either of these questions with any certainty and so we should stop trying. Instead, we should focus on designing sporting environments that support every young learner. Dr. Joe B...

Host one of Craig's talks at your club or school Sign-up to receive Craig's free newsletter The traditional definition of a coach is someone who gives instruction to help an athlete or direct team strategy. The problem with this definition, however, is that it can result in a one-way flow of information - from coach to athlete - which doesn't necessarily line up with how young peopl...

Host one of Craig's talks at your club or school Sign-up to receive Craig's free newsletter The Wellington Phoenix is the only professional football club in New Zealand. Today on the show we explore the academy system in charge of developing their elite players of tomorrow. To better understand the club's processes - and how they get the balance right between striving for success an...

Host one of Craig's talks at your club or school Sign-up to receive Craig's free newsletter This week on the show, I sat down with my good friend, Dave Wright. Dave is head of coaching at Birkenhead United FC in Auckland, New Zealand and Co-founder of Player Development Project , a platform offering a massive collection of coach education resources and online courses.  Dave and I often c...

Host one of Craig's talks at your club or school Sign-up to receive Craig's free newsletter Stephen Cobley is an Associate Professor in motor control, skill acquisition, and sport and exercise psychology at The University of Sydney .  He earned his Bachelor's degree at Loughborough University, his Master's degree at Queen's University in Canada, and his PhD at Leeds Metrop...

Host one of Craig's talks at your club or school Sign-up to receive Craig's free newsletter Nick Webb ( @nick_webby ) is a strength and conditioning and performance specialist.  Over the last 15 years, Nick has worked for the NZ Warriors, NZ Cricket, the Indian Cricket Team, and more recently, Pakistan Cricket.  In 2011, Nick earned a Master of Health Science with First Class Honours fro...

Host one of Craig's talks at your club or school Sign-up to receive Craig's free newsletter After experiencing a magic moment playing golf when everything seemed to click and his performance excelled, my guest in this episode began a research journey into psychological states of peak performance. You may have heard athletes talk about being 'in the zone'. It's a time when...

Host one of Craig's talks at your club or school Sign-up to receive Craig's free newsletter We all need to feel like we belong to something. And in a world that is, right now, full of more uncertainty and struggle than ever, nothing is more important. This conversation is with performance coach, speaker and international number #1 bestselling author, Owen Eastwood . Owen works with high...

Host one of Craig's talks at your club or school Sign-up to receive Craig's free newsletter Andy Milne ( @carmelhealth ) is a teacher, creator, TEDx Speaker and father of two young boys. Originally from England, Andy taught physical education in London for 12 years before moving to America in 2008, where he now teaches Kinetic Wellness and Health at New Trier High School, just north of C...

Host one of Craig's talks at your club or school Sign-up to receive Craig's free newsletter Erin Bowerman ( @dancestrength_nz ) is a movement specialist working in dance. She holds a Masters Degree from AUT University, where she carried out her research at the Australian Ballet School in conjunction with High Performance Sport New Zealand looking at the risk factors for overuse injuries...

Host one of Craig's talks at your club or school Sign-up to receive Craig's free newsletter  James Mortimer ( @jamesmortimernz ) is a former national hurdles and sprint athlete, having represented New Zealand at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia. James now coaches a group of some of our fastest athletes, including Zoe Hobbs , who recently ran 11.08 seconds at the Athlet...