The Sport Psych Show

I'm delighted to speak with sport psychologist at Benfica Football Club, Dr Pedro L Almeida in this episode. Pedro has been a sport psychologist at Benfica FC for coming up to 25 years. During this time he has accumulated a wealth of experience working with players of all ages from youth team players through to some of the best players in the world. Pedro is also Assistant Professor at Instituto U...

In this episode I speak with performance psychologist for Blackburn Rovers FC and GB Para Table Tennis, Dr Andy Hill. Andy completed his undergraduate and master degrees in coaching and then went on to do his PhD looking at 'What makes the elite, elite?'. He works with competitors to help them get the very best out of their ability and with coaches to help increase their understanding of the Psych...

I'm excited to have assistant coach for the Chicago Red Stars, Gary Curneen on this episode. Gary has held various coaching positions over the years and played collegiate soccer at Wingate University, helping lead the men's soccer team to their first-ever NCAA Division II playoff berth.   Gary is also founder of the Modern Soccer Coach which aims to create and help develop elite coaches through bo...

I have the pleasure of being joined by Lauren Abarca - Mental Conditioning Coordinator with the New York Yankees. Lauren is an experienced soccer player who competed for the University of San Francisco and Point Loma Nazarene University. In this time, she completed her B.A. in Kinesiology with a Minor in Psychology. As a former collegiate athlete Lauren acquired a passion for improving sports perf...

In this episode I speak with former Olympic rower, Annie Vernon. Annie is an Olympic silver medallist and two-time World Champion. She is now a respected sports journalist and has just written a fantastic book entitled Mind Games - Determination, Doubt and Lucky Socks: An Insider's Guide to the Psychology of Elite Athletes . Through interviews with leading sports stars and the latest scientific re...

I have the pleasure of being joined by basketball coach Carly Clarke in this episode. Carly has been the Head Coach of Ryerson Women's Basketball since 2012 and is the Canadian Women's National Team Assistant Coach. Prior to coaching, Carly had a successful college playing career, playing 5 seasons at Bishop's University. This led to an assistant coaching role at Dalhousie. She then took up her fi...

This week is Clean Sport Week in the UK. Clean Sport week is an initiative run by UKAD (UK Anti-Doping) and is an opportunity to come together and celebrate the important values of clean sport and support the hard work that sport in the UK is doing in the fight against doping. This year the main focus of the week is on Image and Performance Enhancing Drugs (IPEDs), and in particular the use of IPE...

In this episode I speak with chartered occupational psychologist, Sarah Broadhead. Sarah is currently the GB Taekwondo team psychologist and has worked with a range of sports – British Swimming, GB Canoeing, Archery GB, UK Athletics, GB Triathlon, Formula 3 motor racing, European Tour golfers, a world champion 800m runner and CG gold medal winning mountain biker. Sarah was part of the Director tea...

I'm delighted to be joined by one of the world's leading sport and performance psychologists in this episode - Dr Andrea Furst. Andrea currently works with Surrey cricket and GB and England Hockey as well as having her own consultancy. She has been involved in 4 Olympic and para-Olympic games, specifically in Australian sprint canoe-kayak, 100m hurdles, long jump, triathlon, as well as sailing and...

I have the pleasure of being joined by David White in this episode. David is a public speaker, national learning facilitator, consultant and performance coach. He has recently released a fascinating book called Superstitionism - The Psychology of Sport which looks at the role superstition plays for athletes in all sports the world over. And it's this book we focus on during our discussion, specifi...

I'm joined by coaching expert, speaker, educator and author Coach Reed Maltbie in this episode. Reed is the founder of Raising Excellence, a company working with educators, coaches, parents, athletes, and sports leaders to develop more effective sports participation models. Previously Chief Content Officer and Lead Presenter for the Changing the Game Project, Reed has been coaching excellence beyo...

In this episode I'm speaking with inspirational consultant, coach and facilitator Paul Z Jackson. Paul devises and runs training courses and development programmes in change, strategy, leadership, teamwork, performance improvement and innovation and he's actually been a big influence on my career since I attended one of his courses back in 2005. Paul's Solutions Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) course...

  I have the pleasure of being joined by Dr Mustafa Sarkar and Clara Swedlund. Mustafa is Senior Lecturer in Sport and Exercise Psychology at Nottingham Trent University. His background is in teaching and research with most of his research focusing on the psychology of sporting and performance excellence, specifically looking at resilience in high achievers in sport and business. Mustafa works wit...

I have the pleasure of being joined by sport and performance scientist Elliott Newell on this episode. Elliot is currently Senior Performance Pathway Scientist at the English Institute of Sport. Specialising in psychological support, Elliott works in high performance sport with an emphasis on talent development. His focus is on supporting sports in using psychological knowledge and strategies to m...

I speak with The Wall Street Journal's leadership columnist Sam Walker on this episode. Sam founded the Journal's prizewinning daily sports coverage in 2009 and is a former reporter, sports columnist, and sports editor. Sam also consults with companies and teams about building better leadership cultures and has authored the hugely popular book "The Captain Class" which looks at the link between th...

In this episode I'm joined by professional basketball coach, consultant, and clinician Brian McCormick. Brian has coached professionally in Denmark, Ireland, and Sweden, taking a team to the finals in Denmark's 1st Division and being selected to coach in Sweden's Damligan All-Star Game. Brian completed his PhD in Exercise and Sports Science at the University of Utah, and has had peer-reviewed pape...

I have the pleasure of being joined by Shaun Larkin, Coordinator of Skill Development for the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team on this episode. Previously Shaun played professional baseball and then moved into coaching before completing a Master's degree in Performance Psychology. In his current role Shaun oversees how practices are designed for players and how players are developed in terms of s...

I speak with Jason Severiano Lampkin and Alex Billington, two ex-professional soccer players who were both forced to stop playing due to career-ending injuries in this episode. Jason played at the Manchester United Academy and then completed his apprenticeship at Aston Villa, while Alex attended the Blackburn Academy and then earned a professional contract at Preston. After being released by their...

I'm lucky enough to be joined by Frank "The Legend" Shamrock in this episode. Frank is an American MMA fighter (retired), entrepreneur, motivational speaker and philanthropist. He was the 1st to hold the UFC Middleweight Championship and retired as the 4-time defending undefeated champion and the #1 ranked UFC fighter in the world. Frank is also CEO of the Shamrock Way organisation - a volunteer-p...

In this episode, I'm joined by Steve Sallis. Steve currently works with the England u15 National squad and supports several Premier League players with mental conditioning support. He is founder of solutionsmindset.com which specialises in professional athlete mentorship, sport psychology techniques, coach development, business leadership, teacher training, and school CPD. Steve was previously a d...

In this episode I speak with Alan Stein Jr. Alan is a world-renowned coach, author and keynote speaker. He has spent 15+ years working with the highest performing basketball players on the planet and now teaches audiences how to utilise the same strategies that elite athletes use to perform at a world-class level. Alan has also just released a fantastic book called Raise Your Game: High-Performanc...

I have the pleasure of being joined by James Claffey in this episode. James is a Sport Psychology consultant, professional lecturer and coach in both clinical, exercise, sport and performance psychology, who specialises in creating pathways for athletes to reach peak performance. James has over 10 years experience working in the sport, exercise and performance psychology industry. He is currently...

I'm delighted to be joined by Dr Len Zaichkowsky and Dan Peterson in this episode. Len and Dan have written the ground-breaking book The Playmakers Advantage: How to Raise Your Mental Game to the Next Level which uses cognitive science research to reveal the elusive qualities playmakers possess - that winning combination of anticipation, perception, and decision-making skills.   We mainly speak ab...

In this episode, I'm joined by Nick Levett, Head of Talent and Performance at UK Coaching. Nick and his team help develop coaches who work in the Olympic pathway. Nick previously worked in a variety of roles at the FA for 14 years and has coached from grassroots all the way through to Category 1 teams. He has worked with a multitude of coaches and managers and has a wealth of insight into the deve...

In this episode, I speak with professional golfer and Sky Sports commentator Andrew Coltart. Andrew turned professional in 1991 and was a member of the European Tour from 1993 to 2012. He had two wins on the European Tour and his best finishes in the Order of Merit were 7th place in 1996 and 8th place in 1998. Andrew was a member of the European 1999 Ryder Cup team playing in the singles against T...