Way of Champions Podcast

We are so excited to announce the release of the audiobook version of Every Moment Matters: How the World's Best Coaches Inspire Their Athletes and Build Championship Teams . To celebrate the release, over the next few weeks we will be sharing with you select chapters from the book and offering you the opportunity as a podcast listener to get 60% off the regular price of the book by ordering throu...

This week on the Way of Champions Podcast we welcome Leadership Expert Tim Kight. Tim founded Focus 3 in the mid-80's in Southern California, a life-long student of elite performance with the passion and drive to help organizations achieve their goals. In his college days, Tim transferred from Ohio State to UCLA while running Track. It was at UCLA that he witnessed John Wooden win his 9th and 10th...

This week on the Way of Champions Podcast we welcome surfing champion Lakey Peterson. Lakey won the junior nationals at 14 and qualified for the World Surf League at 16. She is an incredible role model for young athletes and share many great wisdom nuggets during our time together. We dive into the inclusiveness of the surfing community, being an intentional female role model, and overcoming fear....

This week on the Way of Champions Podcast we welcome Olympic and World Cup Champion Christie Rampon and Dr. Kristine Keane. Christie and Dr. Keane wrote a book called  Be All In: Raising Kids for Success in Sports and Life . During our conversation, we dive into defining trust as a coach, why many parents find it difficult to understand athlete burnout, and what parents can do to help their kids c...

This week on the Way of Champions Podcast we welcome Steve Morris, author of What Size Balls Do I Need?: A Roadmap for Survival In The Dizzying World of Youth Sports. During our conversation, we dive into the myth of maximizing a young athletes potential, how we can create better experiences for our young athletes, and the one thing most division one athletes regret most about their youth sport ex...

This week on the Way of Champions Podcast we welcome Nick Levett, Head of Coaching for UK Coaching and an expert in talent development. Prior to his current position, he spend eight years at the Football Association as Talent Identification Manager. After years of trying to get him on the podcast, we finally connected with Nick to record this amazing discussion! We dive into how to support our ath...

This week on the Way of Champions Podcast John and Jerry welcome Michael Murphy, author of Golf in the Kingdom . This is a little bit different of a conversation than we normally have on here, but well worth your time. Jerry and Michael go way back and Jerry credit Micheal as being a huge influence on Jerry's work. We dive into a great conversation about what it is like for coaches and athletes to...

This week on the Way of Champions Podcast we welcome Martin St Louis, a Canadian retired professional ice hockey player. What if we were all really good at getting better? Take out your notepad and something to write with and get ready or some great insight on becoming a tremendous athlete from a hockey player who the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy as the NHL's most gentlemanly player. About  Martin St...

This week on the Way of Champions Podcast we welcome Robert Weintraub, author of  The Divine Miss Marble: A Life of Tennis, Fame, and Mystery . In The Divine Miss Marble, Robert traveled the country to uncover her fascinating story. And the more he learned about her, the more her mysteries and contradictions deepened. Alice was a powerful woman who knew her worth, demanding equal pay to men decade...

This week on the Way of Champions Podcast we welcome Bo Hanson, 4x Olympian and 3x Olympic Medalist. We talk about using failure in childhood as fuel to success in adulthood, setting goals and defining values with teammates, and why a lack of role clarity leads to a bad culture. Bo Hanson's career within the sport and the business sector spans over 20 years, delivering leadership, management and c...

This week on the Way of Champions Podcast we welcome back Dr. Wade. Gilbert, an award-winning professor in the department of kinesiology at California State University at Fresno and the author of Coaching Better Every Season: A year-round system for athlete development and program success. We started with an insightful discussion on Zoom fatigue, etiquette and breakout rooms, talked about the idea...

This week on the Way of Champions Podcast, we welcome back Sport Psychology consultant Dr. Rob Bell. Dr. Bell is a Certified Mental Performance Coach of the Association for Applied Sport Psychology. We dive into many important topics, including helping our kids overcome hardships, recognizing the big moments that define us, and his new book, Puke & Rally: It's Not About The Setback, It's About The...

This week on the Way of Champions Podcast, we replay an episode from 2018 with a 36-time NCAA Champion Sport Psychology Consultant and one of the greatest coaches of all time! This is a show you cannot miss! Dr. Jerry Lynch and Anson Dorrance join John this week to talk Dean Smith, John Wooden, Alonzo Stagg, and what it is like to build an unrivaled dynasty through love, connection, and strong cha...

This week on the Way of Champions Podcast, we welcome Chris Snyder and Nadine Dubina from the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee. We dive into how to put fun back into coaching, how to handle push-back from coaches about coach development, and early sport specialization.    Be sure to check out the  Quality Coaching Framework  on the Team USA website .    Chris Snyder is the director of coaching...

This week on the Way of Champions Podcast, we welcome High Performance Expert, Allon Khakshouri. Allon Khakshouri is a recognized personality in the sports world, and has managed the careers of some of this generation's greatest tennis players, including current world number one Novak Djokovic. We dive into what separates the great players from everyone else, how important intrinsic motivation is...

This week on the Way of Champions Podcast, we welcome David and Keith Mayer , authors of the book  Gold Dust: How to Become A More Effective Coach, Quickly: How to become a better communicator . We discuss intentionally evolving as a coach, writing a book with a family member, and why good coaches are great teachers. You can follow David and Keith  on Twitter and be sure to check out their Podcast...

This week on the Way of Champions Podcast, we welcome Skye Eddy Bruce and Seth Taylor. We dive into the youth sports world and discuss the topic of being a great sports parent like how to get parents to listen to what their children want/need, the difference between encouraging and distracting sideline behavior by parents, and creating alignment between clubs so that real positive change can happe...

This week on the Way of Champions Podcast, we welcome Austin Hatch, a two-time plane crash survivor and inspirational speaker. Hatch's story is nothing short of Miraculous.    On Labor Day of 2003, Hatch and his family were flying home from their vacation home in northern Michigan. As they were preparing to land, the aircraft crashed and burst into flames. Hatch's dad threw him out of the plane, s...

This week on the Way of Champions Podcast, we welcome Nick Winkelman, head of athletic performance & science for the Irish Rugby Football Union. He is also the author of The Language of Coaching , a book that focuses on the impact that communication has on an individual's ability to learn and perform a movement. We discuss how Nick got into movement skill development, how we can assess if out athl...

This week on the Way of Champions Podcast, we welcome Bill Kerig, founder and CEO of GreatCoach.com . Bill Kerig was a collegiate ice hockey player as well as a professional skier. In addition to Great Coach, he founded the sports fundraising platform RallyMe and was the COO of the extreme sports portal LevelRed as well as the medical informatics platform HealthRight. He has produced network telev...

This week on the Way of Champions Podcast, we welcome Dr Neeru Jayanthi, Emory Sports Medicine & Tennis Medicine physician specializing in research on safety and risks of young athletes. You may recognize his name. We have mentioned him in blogs and podcasts, and his work is cited all over the youth sports world. We discuss how his young athlete patients are feeling much better since being able to...

This week on the Way of Champions Podcast, we welcome Joe Ehrmann, Jody Redman, Nate Baldwin and Bev Smith for an incredible cup of virtual coffee as we dive into what the purpose of youth sports is and what we should do when sports start back up. We discuss how the pandemic will change the demand of Youth Sports, how program directors can layer in character development curriculum, and how to crea...

This week on the Way of Champions Podcast, we welcome Alan Keane and Mark Bennett, both previous guests on our podcast. We dive into the purpose of coaching, how to be a "deficit detector", and the behaviors a coach needs to help their players become problem solvers. If you have listened to episodes #31 ,  #76 , or #90 , then you know you are in for a treat!    Alan Keane is the Great Britain and...

This week on the Way of Champions Podcast, we welcome Tara Vanderveer, Head Coach of the Stanford Women's Basketball team. Coach Vanderveer is a 2-Time national champion coach, has been to 12 Final Fours, coached the 1996 US National Team at 1996 Olympics, and has been named Pac-12 Coach of the Year 10 times! She is also one of only nine NCAA Women's Basketball coaches to win over 900 games, and o...