The Head Game Podcast

During this week's episode , Sport Psychologist Dr. Lee Picariello discusses The New Age Athlete and whether or not traditional mental skills are becoming outdated? Further discussion will be based off of: · What defines the New Age Athlete – what type of mentality comes with this? · What are traditional mental skills? And how has technology advanced (or regressed) these skills? · How has technolo...

During this week's episode , Sport Psychologist Dr. Lee Picariello discusses how scouting evaluations in sports effect the athletes mental performance! Further discussion will be based off of: Are scouting combine metrics valid? Is there a correlation between combine skills and pro success? Is the eye test still the best? How does technology play a role? What’s new on the horizon? What type of psy...

During this week's episode , Sport Psychologist Dr. Lee Picariello discusses Conformity Versus Freewill! Further discussion will be based off of: Do rules have to be broken first to change them? Do rules get outdated: are rules only a sign of the times? Why are some people okay with conforming to their environment and others are not? Are sports acting as something we can choose to watch and do (fr...

During this week's episode , Sport Psychologist Dr. Lee Picariello discusses the process of struggling to achieve success! Further discussion will be based off of: Does there need to be a process? No matter how good a team is, do they have to struggle first to find greatness? Why do we have the need to judge? What other teams have had similar situations? When highly talented teams “fail”, are they...

During this week's episode , Sport Psychologist Dr. Lee Picariello discusses athletes who are wise beyond their years! Further discussion will be based off of: How is “Old School Mentality” defined? How important is mental maturity in young athletes and is it looked at enough? What type of factors play into being labeled as a mature performer? What are the benefits of old school thinking - what ar...

During this week's episode , Sport Psychologist Dr. Lee Picariello discusses why the world stops during a sports tragedy Further discussion will be based off of: What makes fans feel connected to athletes? Like we know them? When we grieve, why do we reflect on how sports and the athletes we lost make us feel? What happens to a community when they endure a tragic loss of their hero? Why does a tra...

During this week's episode , Sport Psychologist Dr. Lee Picariello discusses the the deadliest sin - GREED in sports. Further discussion will be based off of:  Does our society influence cheating in general? Our “wanting to be better than the next person” mentality? Do cheating and competitive sports go hand and hand? Is cheating in baseball a big deal, as stealing signs is a part of the game...

During this week's episode , Sport Psychologist Dr. Lee Picariello discusses the Head Game we all play! Further discussion will be based off of: What happens to people, (their mind, their personality ((from experience)) that allows them to rewrite their “script” ? Do you have to go through something life changing to want to change? Or can you change just because you want to? How do we define happi...

During this week's episode , Sport Psychologist Dr. Lee Picariello discusses the power of saying “NO”!  Kicking off the New Year with a New segment: Who’s Got Game? Where each week, a new person is chosen in the world who has been playing their own “head game”. This week’s pick is Jerry Jones, Head coach for the Dallas Cowboys and his discussions to fire Jason Garrett after close to 10 years...

During this week's episode, Co-host, mental strength coach Jessica Ferdinand and strength and conditioning coach John Kalinowski  discuss how to stay competitive after sports. Discussion will also be based off of the following: What is the definition of competition? Or being competitive? As a coach , how do you keep your players competitive? What are the similarities of being a great player v...

During this week's episode, Sport Psychologist Dr. Lee Picariello discusses what mental strength is, the Mindful Athlete way. Discussion will also be based off of the following: Special guest: What is Mental Strength? Why is it important? What are the variables that go into Training the mind? Why is practicing mindfulness so important for performers? How can visualizing (mental reps) success actua...

During this week's episode, Sport Psychologist Dr. Lee Picariello discusses what happens inside a cheaters mind. Discussion will also be based off of the following: What drives performers to want to cheat ? OR use performance enhancing drugs? Is the risk of getting caught and being labeled a cheater , worth the money and glory that being the best brings? Is there ever a situation where cheating is...

During this week's episode, Sport Psychologist Dr. Lee Picariello discusses which duo's are the greatest athletic couples. Discussion will also be based off of the following: What is actually going on between two people that makes a great Tandem? Is there a special chemistry that’s required? Does a Tandem have an unspoken language that others don’t? Does it always lead to the best outcome? Where e...

During this week's episode, Sport Psychologist Dr. Lee Picariello discusses what we have to give up to be successful. Discussion will also be based off of the following: Is athletic success defined by what you have to give up to get it? How does being part of a team sport (baseball) vs an individual sport (track) affect accountability? Are we more accountable to ourselves or to others? How is our...

During this week's episode, Sport Psychologist Dr. Lee Picariello discusses the overtime mentality. Discussion will also be based off of the following: What happens to the mind in overtime? (Double-triple-overtime)? Can athletes prepare for overtime challenges? How does overtime affect the fans? Why can teams score easily with 2 mins left, but have trouble scoring for the whole game Does overtime...

During this week's episode, Sport Psychologist Dr. Lee Picariello discusses a comparison between fantasy sports versus real sports. Discussion will also be based off of the following: Why do people play fantasy sports? Can a fantasy manager be as invested as a coach/player in real life? Is playing fantasy sports a job? Is playing fantasy sports a skill or just a version of gambling? Are fantasy sp...

During this week's episode, Sport Psychologist Dr. Lee Picariello discusses the pressures of dealing with success. Discussion will also be based off of the following: Is success a fluke? Or can it be repeated over and over again? How does success change a team, individual, city? Is dealing with success scarier than dealing with failure? Why are teams more likely to have a losing season, following...

During this week's episode, Sport Psychologist Dr. Lee Picariello discusses sleep deprivation amongst elite performers. Discussion will also be based off of the following: What is the value of sleep on the human body? Why is sleep often overlooked in health and performance? How does lack of sleep deprive athletes of a healthy lifestyle? What is the role that sleep deprivation plays on mental fatig...

During this week's episode, Sport Psychologist Dr. Lee Picariello discusses the mental equation of an elite athlete. Discussion will also be based off of the following: What is the mental equation of creating the elite performer? How does an elite performer continue to stay on top ? What type of personality do elite performers have? Do they have any common connections with other elite performers?...

During this week's episode, Sport Psychologist Dr. Lee Picariello discusses the win or go home mentality. Discussion will also be based off of the following: Which has a greater impact on the game: the player or the position ? Playing for the team vs playing for oneself Stepping up in different roles: like starting pitchers coming into relieve How does experience help with Managing mental fatigue...

Fair Pay To Play Act(signed into law in the state of California) During this week's episode, Sport Psychologist Dr. Lee Picariello discusses the fair pay to play act. Discussion will also be based off of the following: How does this act affect youth sports? Will college athletes still play with a strong passion, even after getting paid? How will this affect the fans viewing the games? Will this in...

During this week's episode, Sport Psychologist Dr. Lee Picariello discusses the psychological profile of the primadona. Discussion will also be based off of the following: How delicate of an ego can lie beneath the surface of a franchise? Can we anticipate further self-destruction, remorse, recovery? Are we surprised when that further self-destruction plays out? How can we look at other athletes:...

During this week's episode, Sport Psychologist Dr. Lee Picariello discusses the mental training necessary for peak performance. Discussion will also be based off of the following: What is Biofeedback and Neurofeedback Training? Why is mental training important? What makes it so beneficial? What are the clinical advantages of working with this type of technology? Why is it still not heavily promote...

During this week's episode, Sport Psychologist Dr. Lee Picariello discusses life after sport. Discussions will be based off of the following: Why is retiring from sports so difficult for athletes? Is being an athlete a type of “Personality”? What is the difference between an athlete’s mind vs a non-athletic mind? Why do employers seek out previous athletes? What can non-athletes learn from athlete...

During this week's episode, Sport Psychologist Dr. Lee Picariello discusses the Business of Sports. Discussion will also be based off of the following: Business decisions - how have sports become a specialized business? Does emotion play a role as a consumer of a sports business decision? Why is “sports business” a different form of other industries: why is there so much discussion of this in the...