The Talent Equation Podcast

Kendal McWade came over for a visit. While he was here we did some work on my golf game and he also did some work with my son. As has become customary, we went for a meal and the conversation started to flow, we got home and had a coffee in my kitchen and I pressed record to capture some of the areas we were exploring together. We delve into the skill acquisition process, how we can enrich individual practice and also how we help players to become creative problem solvers. I hope you enjoy

This week's podcast is a bit different I am joined by some guests who have made appearances on the show previously to discuss topical issues that are on their minds. On the panel this week is Mark O'Sullivan, Nick Levett, David Hinchliffe, Rob Grey and Andrew Wilson. Key themes covered include...Whether coaching using a mixed methods approach is actually just a cop out?What Ringo Starr can tell us about the way we learn in the physical domainThe difference between understanding 'in' the game rather than just understanding 'of' the gameHow you can use instruction within the ecological approachHope you enjoy

Alex Twitchen has spent all his life in coaching. It is something that he has been able to combine as a career and as a practitioner. He is passionate about learning and development and is as passionate about helping other coaches develop as he is about the development of the players he coaches. His most recent career move has seen him working in the 'University in the Cloud' so that he can bring more opportunities to help more coaches learn and develop. We cover a lot of ground in this episode but here are some of the nuggets you will take away by listening... - Jelly Tot Football- Trachcan Challenge- The 'Open Box' curriculum for coaches- His new project to help coaches to develop other coaches- The flow between games based and constraints led approachesLots to take away!! Hope you enjoy

Anastacia Long has had an amazing coaching journey. In this enthralling story (that is straight out of the Hollywood archives), she tells us all about her journey from going from being an elite high board diver to the novice rugby coach of a group of under 15 boys with no previous rugby experience and how they went all the way to the finals of England Rugby’s national schools’ competitions. In this episode she shares the way in which her coaching approach has evolved and developed and describes the ways in which she creates an environment which asks the players to lead the activity, self-organise. The story is fascinating but also the lessons that we can take away a very powerful. I hope you enjoy

The Superbowl is coming this weekend!! As my excitement increases in the build up to the amazing global showcase of sporting endeavour and razzmatazz, I thought it was the perfect time to invite the human encyclopedia of all things movement skill in the NFL, Shawn Myszka (aka @movementmiyagi on Twitter) and author of the amazing blog 'Football Beyond the Stats' https://footballbeyondthestats.wordpress.com/author/shawnmyszka/ back on the podcast to share some of his insights on some of the star players of the season and geek out about skill acquisition and coaching. In this discussion, Shawn shares some of the challenges he has faced this year facing up to some limitations in his coaching repertoire supporting athletes who are "hyper adaptable on the field but not hyper adaptable off the field!" He also dissects some of the star movers of the year, shares his approach to challenging players and taking them outside their comfort zone and we explore some deeper concepts around adaptability. This is one not to be

Sarah Kelleher is the Head Coach of the England U18 Girls Field Hockey team. She is one of the most creative and playful coaches that I have ever had the pleasure to meet and coach with. We worked together in the England Hockey talent pathway and it was one of the highlights of my coaching journey so far. She brings creativity and joy to to everything she does, even the process to planning, session design and reflection!In this conversation we discuss how she uses a range of approaches to creating a motivational climate that is joyful, creative and playful while at the same time being focused on excellence, performance and 'grit'. I really hope you enjoy this conversation because I know I did!! If you would like to hear Sarah talk more about the development of a motivational climate and actually see her in action then you are in luck. She is speaking at the 'Talent Equation Live' conference that I am hosting in Edinburgh with the support of the fine people at Stewart Melville's College. Go to my events page

Professor Keith Davids is Professor of Motor Learning at the Centre for Sports Engineering Research at Sheffield Hallam University in the UK. Keith is one of the 'founding fathers' of the 'ecological approach' to skill acquisition and motor learning in sport. His research investigates the role constraints play on coordination tendencies in athletes and sports teams which he defines as 'complex adaptive systems'. In this conversation in the cafe at the University (Keith's office) we explore the world of skill acquisition, 'Non Linear Pedagogy' and the 'Constraints Led Approach'. We are joined by Ben Galloway from the brilliant 'Opposite Direction' YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsVkH7793RMAhYqKLXle_vQ. (check out these videos for an explanation of some of the concepts we discuss). It is a fascinating conversation, I hope you enjoy...Link to Keith's book is available herehttps://www.amazon.co.uk/Nonlinear-Pedagogy-Skill-Acquisition-Introduction/dp/0415744393/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&

Chris Panayiotou is the Global Technical Director for Rush Soccer, a worldwide soccer coaching network that has 50,000 players across the globe. Chris is originally from the UK and has been based in America for a number of years and has committed his coaching career to supporting other coaches within the Rush Community to improve and develop to provide the best possible experience for children in their programmes. In this conversation we reflect on our learning from the 'Future of Coaching' conference which we both attended over the weekend and Chris also shares some valuable insights into his approach and methodology which has seen him named as one of the top coaches in America by the Positive Coaching Alliance. EnjoyLink to Chris's Peom called 'Football Done' herehttps://youtu.be/vP9uSGPx_kAEnd of Average Book https://www.amazon.co.uk/End-Average-Succeed-Values-Sameness/dp/0062358367http://www.varush.com/

This week's podcast is the final one of 2018...hasn't the year flown by!! For this episode I asked some of the guests I have had on the show over the year to drop by for a little Christmas sin dig so that they could share their reflections and learnings from the year. It is a bit of a crazy whirlwind of a conversation with people coming and going and we cover a lot of ground but there is some gold in these reflections. I hope you enjoy it and have a fantastic Christmas and an amazing New Year. Thanks Stuart

This week's podcast is another experiment in sound recording. I am travelling in my car, Mark has just come out of the gym, Juan is in his office at school and John has just got back from taking the children to school. But we still managed to record a conversation!! You join us as we are planning our forthcoming conference 'The Future of Coaching' as we finalise how we are going to be delivering the sessions and running the conference as well as discussing some of the themes that we will be covering. We then delve into a couple of hot topics that are facing many of the coaches that we work with and explore some of the ways in which we can address them. It is a great conversation and has really whetted my appetite for the discussions to come in the New Year!!Tickets can be booked for the event through the link below.https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-future-of-coaching-with-john-osullivan-stuart-armstrong-mark-bennett-mbe-tickets-49934657906

Andrew Gillott describes himself as a Coach Developer. I would describe him as a genius learning architect. Andrew has been instrumental in leading and creating opportunities for coaches to learn and develop and his passion for learning and development has meant that he has led some of the most innovative and creative programmes of development for coaches up and down the UK talent system. In this conversation we explore the inevitable 'drills v games' debate, how he uses an ecological approach to help coaches to appreciate their effect on athletes and why context is important when understanding the behaviour of coaches. Hope you enjoy

Dr Amanda Visek is a researcher from George Washington University in the U.S as well as being an active sports coach and someone who is passionate about the role that sport can play to improve children's lives. Her research provides a fascinating look into what makes sport fun for children and the results will surprise you. In this super interesting conversation we delve into the way that she gathered the information and then used 'concept mapping' techniques to provide a visual reference as to the key elements of fun for children. She then shares some of her latest unpublished research that compares how parents and coaches rank certain elements and how this is not necessarily aligned to the way children rank things!! The research can be found here https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4201634/A presentation on the fun maps with visuals can be found here https://appliedsportpsych.org/site/assets/files/14874/visek.pdfI hope you enjoy the conversation

Scott McNeill is a Performance Coach Developer for GB Hockey, a Performance Director for the Canoe Association of Northern Ireland as well as a mentor for the Premier League. He has been part of a group of people that have led a transformation within GB Field Hockey to redevelop the player development system in line with the principles of Ecological Dynamics. In this fascinating conversation, Scott describes the journey of bringing about this change within the sport and some of the key pillars of embedding these concepts and ideas into the psyche of the playing and coaching community. While this discussion explores how this is done on a whole sport scale, the ideas and approaches that are shared by Scott apply to anybody looking to foster a player centred environment which allows players to thrive and develop. Even though I have been on this journey with Scott and his colleagues as a coach and coach developer, I still found the conversation fascinating and insightful. I know you will too!!Enjoy!!

Richard Shorter has spent his life committed to supporting families to improve their communication and relationship dynamics. He set us www.non-perfectdad.co.uk to provide a space for sporting parents to help to navigate the dynamic world of sport for young people. In this illuminating and energising conversation Richard unloads 20 years of knowledge about the challenges of parenting into an hour and a half conversation that is rich with valuable ideas! Many of these ideas have been encapsulated in Richard's new book 'Conversations for the Journey - 40 ways to build sporting character' which can be purchased at his website using a special promo code especially for Talent Equation subscribers. Use the link below to get your discount. https://non-perfectdad.co.uk/talentequation/The book has been really useful for me in the few short weeks that it has been in my possession so I can't recommend it highly enough. Hope you enjoy as much as I did!!

Sergio Lara-Barcial has committed his life to improving the coaching experience for young people. As a coach, researcher and policy maker he is working hard to give himself and others more opportunities to learn, develop and improve. In this conversation we discuss his role as a national team coach and how he had to find strategies to ensure that the stress didn't affect him. He shares his research into the characteristics of serial winning coaches and he also shares the insights into his latest project...a global campaign and movement called 'icoachkids' designed to improve the sports experience for children by supporting coaches to be the best they can be. Sergio is a genuinely inspirational figure in the word of coaching...i know you will enjoy listening to his story as much as I did. Find out more about icoachkids and take the pledge at www.icoachkids.eu

Jack Shakespeare is the head of UK Active Kid a 'not for profit health body' that is focused on tackling the growing epidemic of inactivity among young people in the UK. In this conversation Jack and I explore the ways that they are taking a 'socio-ecological' approach to creating communities and environments that support young people into a more physically active life. This is a fascinating conversation with a passionate and skilful operator working to achieve some pretty extraordinary things. I hope you enjoy.

Sam Jarman is an ex professional golfer he is now a golf coach but his interests and knowledge go far wider than a single sport. I would describe Sam as a 'Human Experience Specialist'. In this episode we get deep into an exploration of what makes us human and how we operate in the world. Sam blows apart some common held ideas about how experience shapes us and proposes some ideas that could have profound insights as to how we can better support young people on their journeys through life and sport. This episode made my head hurt...it still makes my head hurt!! There is a lot in here and it is pretty dense...it's not for the fainthearted but it is worth the ride as there are some key ideas in here that could re-frame the way we think and act in a youth sports context. Good Luck!!

Debbie Sayers is one of the founders of Salisbury Rovers. A youth football club that has taken the concept of 'child centred' sport to a new level. In this fascinating conversation we discover how the club came about, the approach that the coaches have taken to ensure that the children are benefiting from the best experience possible and why they have opted out of formal competition structures in order to protect the integrity of their child centred philosophy. This is a group of people that deserve great admiration for the commitment and dedication that they display and the conversation demonstrates a truly fascinating story about perseverance and commitment to a cause. Hope you enjoy...------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------There are a couple of conferences coming up in the new year to learn from some of of my guests on the podcast. Go to http://www.thetalentequation.co.uk/events to find out more.

Dr Don Vinson is a researcher and lecturer at Worcester University in England. He is also a practising coach who is working with the U16 England national girls hockey team and a damn fine bloke!! I dropped by to Don's office as i happened to be in his neck of the woods and was fortunate enough to find out that he had a free space open up in his diary and could spend some time with me talking about our combined passions...helping young people be the best versions of themselves, helping coaches to be better, researching and understanding the theories behind what makes us who we are and coach the way we coach. We really get into the weeds in this one but come up for air now and again to bring the ideas to life from a practical perspective. Hope you enjoy!!

It's national Parents in Sport week!! https://thecpsu.org.uk/upcoming-events/parents-in-sport-week-2018/So it is only fitting that I had a conversation with Gordon MacLelland of Working with Parents in Sport https://www.parentsinsport.co.uk. In this conversation I am actually being a sport parent and recording the podcast on my phone while watching my son play his first game of 'proper football' (this gets me into trouble so stay listening until the end to hear me try and make amends with my son for not paying enough attention to his first game....bad Dad!!!)Gordon and I explore the challenges of being a sports parent, we also look into how parents can navigate the increasingly competitive and ruthless world of talent identification as well as looking into some practical ideas around how coaches can build better relationships with parents. If you can cope with the sounds of enthusiastic parents in the background and my occasion outburst as my son does something good in the game then I am sure that you will ge