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The Sport Psych Show — Amateur
The Sport Psych Show

Join Sport Psychologist, Dan Abrahams, on The Sport Psych Show as he aims to demystify sport psychology for players, coaches and parents by speaking with some of the most influential people in sports performance today. Dan is on a mission to learn more about how sport psychology philosophies, tools and techniques positively impact participation, progression and performance in sport. He wants to learn more about how to drive participation – what motivational tools engage players and inspire people to play and stay in their sport. He wants to explore how players can progress quicker and more effectively – what is great practice and training? And how does learning in sport really happen? Finally, he wants to hear what his guests have to say about the psychology of performance – how do they think players can improve their ability to high perform consistently under pressure? Discover simple and practical tools and techniques by listening in to Dan’s conversations with elite competitors, sports coaches, sport scientists, and psychologists.

Latest Episodes:

#169 Dr Karen Howells & Holly Bradshaw - The Need for Better Support Systems in Sport Dec 06, 2021

Show notes

I'm delighted to speak with Dr Karen Howells and Holly Bradshaw in this episode. Karen is a Senior Lecturer in Sport and Exercise Psychology at Cardiff Metropolitan University. She is a Chartered Psychologist of the British Psychological Society (BPS) and a registered Practitioner Psychologist with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC). Karen regularly provides sport and performance psychology support to athletes from a wide range of individual and team sports competing at a variety of levels.

Holly is the British record holder in pole vault and recent Olympic bronze medallist winner at the Tokyo Olympics. Holly is also a Sport Psychology MSc student at Loughborough University and has co-authored a new paper along with Karen and Mathijs Lucassen entitled "Abandoned to manage the post-Olympic blues: Olympians reflect on their experiences and the need for a change". It's this fascinating paper that we discuss.

#168 Dr Jamie Taylor - Optimising Experiences in Talent Development Environments Nov 29, 2021

Show notes

I'm delighted to speak with Dr Jamie Taylor in this episode. Jamie is a senior coach developer at Grey Matters, a company specialising in performance enhancement and coaching development for individuals, sporting/cultural organisations and systems.

Jamie is also Assistant Professor at Dublin City University. He works at The University of Edinburgh, and he coaches Performance Rugby at Loughborough University.

We discuss in depth two fascinating papers Jamie has recently written about optimising talent development experience.

#167 Dr Mustafa Sarkar - How to Create a Psychologically Safe Environment Nov 22, 2021

Show notes

I'm delighted to welcome Dr Mustafa Sarkar back on the show. Mustafa is Associate Professor of Sport and Performance Psychology at Nottingham Trent University. His main area of research is on individual, team and organisational resilience in elite sport.

Mustafa has a background 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 also works with coaches and organisations helping them to develop resilience in athletes and teams.

We talk about a brilliant paper that Mustafa has contributed to which discusses psychological safety in sport.

#166 Prof Laurence Alison & Dr Neil Shortland – How to Become a Better Decision-Maker Nov 15, 2021

Show notes

I'm delighted to speak with Professor Laurence Alison and Dr Neil Shortland in this episode.

Laurence is Chair of Forensic and Investigative Psychology at Liverpool University. He is a leader in forensic psychology, and specialises in the most difficult interactions imaginable: criminal interrogations. He advises and trains the police, security agencies, the FBI and the CIA on how to deal with extremely dangerous suspects.

Neil is the Director of the Centre for Terrorism and Security Studies (CTSS) at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. CTSS leads and facilitates scientific research, education and training to help understand and respond to the evolution, convergence and complexity of domestic and foreign security challenges.

Having spent over 20 years helping soldiers, police officers, doctors and other professionals in high-stakes environments make tough decisions when lives are on the line, Laurence and Neil have written the brilliant new book "Decision Time: How to make the choices your life depends on". In the book they show us how those same decision-making techniques apply to everyday life. With tips, studies, interviews and observations from their training with police officers together with role-play scenarios, this book will help you identify and fight off the common enemies of good decision-making - inertia, procrastination and indecision - and empower you to make the choices that matter the most.

#165 Dr Gillian Cook - How Effective Leaders Create Optimal Conditions for Others to Thrive Nov 08, 2021

Show notes

I speak to Dr Gillian Cook in this week's episode. Gillian is a Lecturer in Sport and Performance Psychology at Liverpool John Moores University. She is a British Psychological Society (BPS) Chartered Sport and Exercise Psychologist, and a Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) registered Practitioner Psychologist. She is the club sport psychologist at Dundee United Football Club, and has worked with teams and organisations including British Swimming, British Athletics, Birmingham City Football Club's Academy, Scottish Hockey, Loughborough Sport, Nike, the NHS, and BBC. Gillian teaches and supervises across the undergraduate, postgraduate, professional doctorate and PhD degree programmes. She is the Module Leader for Developmental Psychology and Individual Differences, as well as Developmental and Social Psychology. Her research interests include high performance leadership, and the psychology of performance excellence. Specifically, her research examines how effective leaders create the conditions for others to thrive and deliver optimal outcomes in high pressure environments.

#164 Prof Peter Clough, Doug Strycharczyk & Dr John Perry - Mental Toughness Nov 01, 2021

Show notes

In this episode, I'm delighted to be joined by Prof Peter Clough, Doug Strycharczyk and Dr John Perry who have come on to talk about the newly released 3rd edition of the brilliant book Developing Mental Toughness: Strategies to Improve Performance, Resilience and Wellbeing in Individuals and Organizations.

Prof Peter Clough needs little introduction having helped develop the concept of mental toughness. Peter is a research professor interested in performance under pressure and performance enhancement, in particular Mental Toughness.

Doug Strycharczyk is the founder and CEO of AQR International - the business that has taken the concept of Mental Toughness and introduced it to people all over the world through psychometric testing.

Dr John Perry is Head of Department of Psychology at Mary Immaculate College. He has served as Acting Dean of Arts and worked as a lecturer in UK university. His research interests initially developed from a sports background and are now applied more broadly. John has joined Peter and Doug to co-author the 3rd edition of Developing Mental Toughness.

#163 Craig Morris & Elliott Newell – Performance and Well-Being Oct 25, 2021

Show notes

In this episode I welcome back sport and performance scientist Elliott Newell. This time Elliott is joined by Olympic Canoe Slalom Coach at British Canoeing, Craig Morris.

Elliott 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 maximise the effectiveness and efficiency of performance pathways.

Craig works within the elite performance pathway of British Canoeing and is just back from the Tokyo Olympics. Craig nurtures high performing people to facilitate high performing athletes, by always taking a person-centred approach, prioritising connections with self, belonging and psychological safety.

#162 Prof Adam Nicholls - Psychology in Sports Coaching Oct 18, 2021

Show notes

I speak to Prof Adam Nicholls in this week's episode. Adam is a professor of sport psychology at the University of Hull.

Adam's research is supported by more than £1.1 million as a principal investigator and £1.5 million including all projects. He has published more than 85 journal articles and written 3 books.

Adam and I speak about the recently released 3rd edition of his book Psychology in Sports Coaching Theory and Practice which has been fully revised and updated. Drawing on the very latest research and theory, the book introduces the psychological tools and techniques that coaches can use to get the best performances out of their athletes. Including three new chapters on the constraints approach to assessing psychological needs, mental imagery, managing perfectionism tendencies, and mentoring leaders.

#161 Niels Feddersen - A Holistic Ecological Approach to Talent Development Sep 27, 2021

Show notes

I speak to Niels Feddersen in this week's episode. Niels is a postdoctoral researcher in sports science at Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Niels studies organisational culture and power relations in elite sports organisations in the UK, Norway, and Denmark.

Niels obtained his PhD from Liverpool John Moores University. In the research, he collaborated with several Olympic sports organisations, the FA, and Premier League football clubs. Niels also has a background as a practitioner in sport psychology, primarily in rowing in the youth national teams in Denmark.

We speak about a fantastic paper that Niels has contributed to entitled A Qualitative Meta-Study of a Decade of the Holistic Ecological Approach to Talent Development

#160 Dr Suzanne Brown - Mental Health in Sport Sep 20, 2021

Show notes

I speak to Dr Suzanne Brown in this week's episode. Suzanne is a clinical psychologist specialising in mental health and performance. She works with individuals in one-to-one therapy and with elite organisations in sport, business and education. With over 14 years of experience, she has pioneered a new way of working that bridges clinical psychology with elite performance, helping people to achieve emotional fitness across all areas of their life.

We speak about mental health in sport and how understanding yourself better can help you to flourish personally and professionally.

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