The Sport Psych Show

I'm delighted to welcome Dr Jerry Lynch and John O'Sullivan back to the show to discuss their brand new book "Captain: The Athlete's Guide to Being an Exceptional Team Leader". Jerry is a performance, leadership and coaching expert helping people of all ages and abilities in all arenas of performance to develop the qualities of courage, integrity, fearlessness, tenacity, patience, persistence in o...

On this week's episode I hand the reins over to my long-time friend, Mark Peters, to discuss my new book Compete: Developing a Mental Playbook for Performance Under Pressure in Sport . Mark is Deputy Head and former Director of Sport at Hornsby House School and Chair of Governors at Lark Hall Primary Campus. Mark has a strong history of coaching a variety of sports and has experience as a coach ed...

I speak with Richard Fryer in this week's episode. Richard is a psychologist working in high performance sport in Australia. Richard works with many of Australia's highest profile sporting teams and athletes and has supported Australians at five Olympic and Paralympic Games. Richard's passion is helping individuals, teams, and organisations achieve their performance potential. Richard is a Senior...

I'm delighted to speak with Dr Séamus Harvey and Dr Chin Wei Ong in this week's episode. We discuss a mental well-being screening process which was implemented at an elite youth football academy developed by Séamus, Chin and colleagues. Séamus is a Postdoctoral Researcher with the NetwellCASALA research centre at Dundalk Institute of Technology. Séamus researches digital health and health psycholo...

I'm delighted to speak with Daniel Coyle in this week's episode. Daniel is the award-winning author of multiple  New York Times  bestsellers including The Talent Code and The Culture Code. Daniel's work explores how people and groups grow, perform, and thrive. He combines immersive field reporting with behavioural science to create practical frameworks for building skill, culture, and meaningful c...

I speak with Declan O'Connell in this week's episode. Declan is a coach and performance consultant with over 20 years working with elite sports, global executive teams, and high-performance environments across the world. Declan is currently finalising his Doctorate in Elite Performance Psychology at Dublin City University. His doctorate research focuses on developing adaptability in individuals, t...

I'm delighted to speak with Andreas Küttel in this week's episode. Andreas is a Swiss former  ski jumper  who won five  World Cup  competitions from 2005 to 2007, and placed third in the overall World Cup in 2006. He won a gold medal in the individual large hill event at the  2009 Ski Jumping World Championships . Andreas also competed at three  Winter Olympics , earning his best finish of fifth i...

I speak with Dr David Moran in this week's episode. David is a coach and coach developer in Gaelic games. He is a post-doctoral researcher with the Insight Research Ireland Centre for Data Analytics and the School of Health and Human Performance at Dublin City University. We discuss a paper David led which examines grouping players by ability. Following the introduction of formal competition struc...

I'm delighted to speak with Katja Rewitz in this week's episode. Katja is a second year PhD student at the Dynamics of Human Performance Regulation Laboratory at the University of Hamburg. Her research focuses on human sensations and their influence on decision-making and performance behaviour. In this episode, we discuss a fascinating paper led by Katja which examines the explore-exploit framewor...

I speak with Dr Simon Quick in this week's episode. Simon is a lecturer in Sport Coaching at the University of Essex, specialising in sport pedagogy, coaching ethics, and holistic athlete development. Simon previously taught Physical Education in high schools holding leadership roles including Head of Physical Education, Athletic Director, and Deputy Headteacher. Simon is an active researcher and...

I'm delighted to speak with Dave Webb in this week's episode. Dave is a leading manager and coach who has been at the forefront of elite international and club football for more than two decades. Dave has held various sporting director, coaching, and recruitment roles at the highest levels of the game both in the UK and abroad. He is currently the Georgia National Team Assistant Manager where he h...

I speak with Simon Gelsthorpe in this week's episode. Simon is a clinical psychologist who specialises in emotions. He works with sports coaches and sports organisations to help them be more psychological in their coaching, thereby improving athlete emotional well-being and performance. Simon is a visiting fellow at the University of Bradford with the Psychology Centre. He is also the developer of...

I'm delighted to speak with Dr Robin Owen and Prof Shuge Zhang in this week's episode.  Robin is a Senior Lecturer in Sport Psychology at Liverpool Hope University. His research aims to advance our understanding of anxiety, attentional focus, motor control, skill acquisition, statistical prediction, cognitive functioning, and talent identification/development.  Shuge is currently a research Profes...

I'm delighted to speak with Dr Alan McKay in this week's episode. Alan is an HCPC sport psychologist, researcher, and practitioner. He completed his PhD in sport psychology with the Football Association of Wales (FAW) and is currently working as a senior research assistant at the FAW Centre for Football Research, housed at the University of South Wales. In this role he helps to produce multidiscip...

I am delighted to speak with Dr Erin Prior in this episode. Erin is a Chartered Sport and Exercise Psychologist working across a range of sports. Erin has her own sport psychology consultancy practice working with a wide range of athletes, coaches, and parents to enhance their psychological approach to their sport. She has worked with a variety of sporting organisations including the FA, The Wheel...

I'm delighted to speak with Johan Forsberg in this week's episode. Johan is a mental performance coach and Swedish former professional ice hockey player. Johan helps individuals, groups and organisations to develop, feel and perform better. He is primarily interested in leadership, motivation and group dynamics. Johan has provided support and training for coaches, managers, and elite athletes. Pri...

I'm delighted to speak with Dr Phil Kearney in this week's episode. Phil is one of the world's leading skill acquisition specialists. He is Interim Course Director of the Masters and Applied Sports Coaching course at the University of Limerick. Phil completed his PhD at the University of Limerick, exploring the application of skill acquisition principles to children's learning of fundamental movem...

I am delighted to speak with Dr Ellie Gennings in this episode. Ellie is a Senior Lecturer in Sports Coaching based in the Department of Sport and Event Management at Bournemouth University. Ellie is interested in children's wellbeing, children's rights and safe sport. Ellie completed her PhD in 2022 in which she measured children's wellbeing developing a wellbeing scale.   In this episode we disc...

I'm delighted to speak with Dr Peter Schneider in this week's episode. Peter is an expert in high performance environments and transitions. He was most recently the mental performance coach at RB Leipzig helping them to win 2 DFB Cups and 1 Supercup. Peter's focus is to help create talent development environments in which athletes, coaches, and parents are provided with the necessary information t...

I'm joined by Jeremy Holt in this episode. Jeremy is an author, leadership team coach, trainer and mentor with three and a half decades of experience applying psychology to real-world teams in business, sport, and public service. Jeremy's work with teams focuses on identity - the glue that binds people together and drives performance. As a Chartered Occupational Psychologist, Jeremy supports leade...

I am delighted to welcome back high-performance coach Dr Ian Peek in this episode. Ian works with clients to improve performance and well-being, helping them achieve their goals whether that's transitioning to a new level of achievement or maintaining their position at the top of their sport or industry.  Ian is a PGA Master Professional - the highest educational level in The PGA - which recognise...

I'm delighted to speak with Ray Power in this episode. Ray is a coach developer and best-selling author of 10 soccer coaching books. He is also the Technical Director of the largest football academy in South Asia. Ray has coached at every level of football, from youth at risk to elite youth internationals. He achieved his UEFA A Licence in 2012 and has worked in youth football development all over...

I'm delighted to speak with Prof Mike Wilson in this episode. Mike has over 16 years of dedicated expertise in the mental health field. Serving as both a professor and mental performance coach, Mike has collaborated with international governments, leading international bodies like the United Nations and the World Bank, law enforcement agencies, and a diverse range of global sports organisations. T...

I'm delighted to speak with Ben Franks in this episode. Ben is a people developer and Senior Lecturer in Applied Coaching Sciences at Oxford Brookes University. Ben has been at Oxford Brookes since 2021 after holding various teaching positions at The University Campus of Football Business and at Canterbury Christ Church University.   Ben also consults and coaches at a variety of organisations. He...

I'm delighted to welcome back licensed clinical psychologist and sport psychologist, Dr Scott Goldman in this week's episode. Scott started out at the University of Arizona where was one of the first embedded sport psychologists in an athletic department. He has since served as a clinical and performance psychologist for the University of Michigan and Saint Louis' Athletic Departments. Scott also...