The Mental Game with Sam Brief

Episode 16 of The Mental Game Podcast features performance coach, author and speaker Andy Harris .  Harris wrote Leading From the Back and works with an eclectic mix of clients, including college baseball teams and college basketball referees. In the podcast, Harris delves deep into his fascinating work with basketball officials, lending insight into how he coaches them on dealing with incess...

Episode 15 of The Mental Game Podcast features Ray Ray McElrathbey, a former Clemson football player who is portrayed in the new Disney film, Safety .  Safety tells the powerful story of Ray Ray and his brother-turned-son, Fahmarr. With Fahmarr in jeopardy of entering foster care, an 18-year-old Ray Ray took custody of his then-brother, who moved into his dorm room at Clemson. Ray Ray, who be...

Episode 14 of The Mental Game Podcast features mental toughness coach Dr. Rob Bell . Bell has coached PGA Tour champions, an Olympic medalist, a USTA National Champion, plus other professional and college athletes. He’s also caddied over 20 events on the PGA Tour and has penned seven books on mental toughness.  Bell also battled life-threatening injuries to become an Ironman athlete. He’s cur...

Episode 13 of The Mental Game Podcast features longtime NBA and MLB producer John Walsh. Walsh is currently the television director for the Milwaukee Bucks and Milwaukee Brewers and most recently served as producer for both the Chicago Bulls and Chicago Cubs.  In his packed career, he has worked for the Los Angeles Raiders, the NFL on FOX (on John Madden’s crew), FOX Sports Arizona, FOX Sport...

Episode 12 of The Mental Game Podcast brings Hannah Huesman to the show. Huesman is a mental skills coach for the Philadelphia Phillies and the host of #MentalSweatMonday on her Instagram page, @hannahhuesman . She was recently named No. 2 on LinkedIn’s list of “Top 10 Voices in Sports” for 2020. On the podcast, Huesman breaks down her role training the minds of Phillies players, practicing the cr...

Episode 11 of The Mental Game Podcast features Abbie Wolf, a former Northwestern women’s basketball player now playing professionally in Spain for Club Deportivo Zamarat. Wolf recently penned a touching and cogent essay in The Daily Northwestern outlining her mental health journey throughout college ( linked here ). In this episode, Wolf discusses her battle with performance anxiety, the value of...

For Episode 10 of The Mental Game podcast, 46-year professional baseball veteran Butch Hobson joins the show.  Hobson played seven seasons in Major League Baseball for the Boston Red Sox, California Angels and New York Yankees. In 1978, Hobson set a then-Red Sox record for home runs by a third baseman, with 30. He also managed the Red Sox from 1992-94 and has been a manager in Minor League Basebal...

Episode 9 of The Mental Game podcast features Dr. Megan Roche, who is a lot of things. Roche not only is a medical doctor and PhD student in Epidemiology at Stanford University, but she is also a national-champion Trail Runner who was named the 2016 U.S. Trail Runner of the Year. Roche recently co-authored a Stanford study that delved into the severe mental health impact COVID-19 has wreaked on at...

Episode 8 of The Mental Game podcast is with world-renowned sports psychologist Dr. Harold Shinitzky. Shinitzky works with Olympic and professional athletes from every major association (PGA, NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL), in addition to top junior and collegiate athletes. He also serves as president of the Florida Psychological Association and is the author of A Champion's Mindset: 15 Mental Conditioni...

Episode 7 of The Mental Game podcast features South Bay Lakers Head Coach Coby Karl. Karl is the son of 2013 NBA Coach of the Year George Karl and played in the NBA, most notably during the 2007-08 season with the Los Angeles Lakers. During that season, Karl soaked up knowledge from all-time greats like Kobe Bryant and Phil Jackson. Now in his fifth season as the head coach of the Lakers’ G-League...

For Episode 6 of The Mental Game Podcast, Sean Quinn joins host Sam Brief. Quinn is a Mental Conditioning Consultant with the Moawad Consulting Group who boasts thousands of hours coaching professional athletes in baseball, football, basketball, soccer, tennis and golf world as well as top corporate executives.  Quinn takes us through the mental conditioning approach his company employs,...

Episode 5 of The Mental Game Podcast features part 2 of a conversation with Adam Amin of FOX Sports the Chicago Bulls. In this installment, Amin expounds on the special relationship he had with his father, Mohammed, who immigrated to suburban Chicago from Korachi, Pakistan in 1978. Mohammed passed away in March 2018, while Amin was in the midst of his typically stacked broadcasting schedule. Amin...

Adam Amin of FOX Sports and the Chicago Bulls joins Episode 4 of The Mental Game Podcast, which is split into two parts. In part 1, Amin delves into… How he mentally prepares and focuses for broadcasts The unparalleled value of adjustments His emotions before, during and after calling Notre Dame star Arike Ogunbowale's game-winning shots in the 2018 Final Four against both UConn and Mississippi St...

Episode 3 of The Mental Game Podcast features Ireland-Based Sports Psychology Consultant David Mullins. In the past decade, Mullins has primarily consulted with mixed martial arts fighters, including multiple UFC champions such as the "Notorious" Conor McGregor. In recent years, he has also worked with pro athletes and coaches in basketball, baseball, football and soccer. In this episode, Mullins...

Episode 2 of The Mental Game features seventh-year basketball pro Reggie Hearn. Out of high school, Hearn received no Division I scholarship offers, so he joined the Northwestern University basketball team as a walk-on. Four years later, he left Evanston as the team’s leading scorer. Then in 2018, after four G-League seasons, Hearn broke through and made it to the NBA with the Detroit Pistons. He’...

Episode 1 of The Mental Game highlights Casey Crosby, who has spent 11 seasons pitching in professional baseball, including a short stint in 2012 with the Detroit Tigers. Crosby breaks down the unique psychological hurdles of pitching and how he navigated them early in his career (5:15). Then, he discusses Dallas Cowboys QB Dak Prescott being open about his struggles with depression and relates it...