The Talent Equation Podcast

Dennis Hortin is the academy manager at AIK, one of Sweden's oldest and most respective professional football clubs. Mark O'Sullivan is a friend of the podcast and needs no introduction except to say that he has now joined AIK and is working within their coaching set up. In this brilliant discussion we learn more about why AIK has taken the brave step to back out of the crazy situation that has been emerging where football clubs are trying to select players younger ad younger to be part of their talent academy programme. AIK has been inspired by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and has decided that the best way to help develop players and take a truly 'player centred' approach is to make sure that the kids have a great experience free from pressure until at least the age of 13. It is an inspired move and one that all talent developers should take note of. This is a watershed moment and an opportunity for others to follow in their footsteps and end the crazy commodification of children in sport!

This conversation with Stuart Wilkinson challenged some of my thinking about optimal talent development approaches and made me consider if we can sometimes become too dogmatic in our thinking about a specific way to approach the development of young people in sport. Stuart has a rich background in talent development having worked in several professional club academies in Rugby League as well as working as a pathway manager for the National Governing Body. He is currently working as a lecturer in sports coaching at the University of Central Lancashire and is working towards his PhD in Talent Development. The conversation covers the following: - The 'synoptical approach' and how it can be used to create a more multi dimensional athlete way of developing young people- How the use of games that don't look like the sport can be effective in supporting development - Stuart's manual for talent developers that he is currently writing- Why using specialists from other sports can have limitations - Karl Newell's model

Stuart Morgan from www.stuartmorgangolf.com was the Director of Instruction at the International Junior Golf Academy in the USA. Stuart has spent his life helping young golfers to develop and has a wealth of knowledge to share with the talent community. We focus on the experiences he went through with developing a young female golfer called Emily Price and her journey of success towards several amateur titles and the way that the engagement with the family is all important. In the episode we cover: - How Stuart works with young players on the course and in context as mush as possible. Designing challenges and using constraints to challenge their skill set. - How the relationship with the parents is all important but the relationship is built in having clearly defined roles. - How a delayed specialisation model was used in Emliy's development. How keeping her away from the system until the right moment played an important role in her development. - Creating an ecological environment around her in order to deve

Doug Lemov has dedicated his life to helping young people to strive for the exceptional. His work within Uncommon Schools has helped some of the most disadvantaged young people to achieve things within their lives that few thought would be possible. He understands a thing or two about unleashing potential. His quest to help students succeed led him to discover that the major factor in helping young people was the best teaching. He set about to find out what set apart the best teachers from the rest and decided to record the methods that these teachers adopted to share with others. The book 'Teach like a Champion' was born. In this episode we discuss: - How to use questioning really, really well. - How to avoid question fatigue - Why most CPD doesnt work- Why teacher training leaves teachers without the necessary skills to be excellent teachers- The ingredients of a high quality talent environment like uncommon schools

Loren Anderson is the head coach at Rise Volleyball (@risevolleyball www.risevolleyball.net). In this enthralling conversation Loren and I discuss our respective coaching journeys and share some of the challenges and joys of working in a non linear way with young people. In the episode we discuss: - Why coaches should be like gardeners and not like carpenters- A better use for timeouts - Why matches should be time off for the coach- Why kids who don't fit the mental model a coach has of the right kind of players with the right techniques usually get punished through less game time. - Why we want players that can solve problems not players that can repeat movementsI really enjoyed the conversation and I hope you do too!

Shawn Myszka aka @movementmiyagi on Twitter is a human movement specialist that has been using the ecological approach to the development of elite NFL players for the past 5 years. In this honest and illuminating discussion Shawn shares his journey from being a "biomechanics junkie", largely driven by physiology and technique towards an approach that develops athletic abilities through the creation of scenarios which challenge the athlete's movement in relation to the activities if others. It's a fascinating journey...

Danny Newcombe is Senior Lecturer in Sport Coaching and Physical Education at Oxford Brookes University as well as being Assistant Coach to the Wales Men's Hockey Team and coach to Southgate Hockey Club Men's first team in the England National Hockey League. He is a genuine 'pracademic' in that he has the theory and he puts it into practice as well. In this epidode we discuss...- The evolution of practice design from drills to games and everything in between - The 'practice design framework' and how you can use it to devise practices that have the optimal amount of chaos and instability to facilitate learning (link to practice design continuum here http://www.thetalentequation.co.uk/tools-resources)- How to ensure that you individualise your coaching by viewing each athlete as a different 'species'

Dr Richard Bailey is one of the most widely respected researchers and academics in the world of sport. He currently works at the global policy making body the International Council for Sports Science and Physical Education (ICSSPE) where he gives talks all around the world on matters related to the development of sport and physical activity. In this episode Richard pulls no punches in exposing the world of coaching for adhering to practices and educational models that have no evidence base or have proven to be false. We talk about...- Why we have 'the worst system in the world - barring all the others'- His latest research which shows that 60% of coaches have been taught that there are 'learning styles' (Bull***t!)- His challenge for the coaching industry to professionalise- His views on drills within coaching and why they have no place in a learning enironment.

In this great conversatiom with Marc Bourhill, A career talent coach that has coached elite national age group teams in Hockey we cover a range of issues stimulated by Marcs own coaching journey. - How Marc has been transformed since adopting a dynamical systems approach to coaching. - The way he uses the approach with elite players and recreational youngsters- Why he doesn't let his young players compete in tournaments- How allowing for self organisation builds learning- How techniques can be developed within a game context- How many young players with ability have been over coached so that they become uncoachable

In this episode Nick and I go off piste and reflect on our learning journeys as coaches. We both explore the process we went through to move from being technically driven to being person driven.

In this episode I answer a question that came in from a parent who wanted to know how much of a role luck played in the talent world. How much was a persons development just down to the opportunities that are afforded to them by their circumstances and how much the NFL hence can we have over luck?

Joey Peters is an ex international soccer player from Australia who has represented her country 110 times. She talks about her fascinating learning journey from international athlete to working with U9s and the transformation that she needed to go through. In the episode we discuss: - How she had to cure herself of the 'ex player desease' - How knowledge can be a strength and a weakness- Taking the 'matrix pill' and seeing a whole new universe of coaching approaches. - How she did an experiment with drills to test how players responded- Actually involving the children in the design of the session and engaging them in learning. - A brilliant idea for a game called 'The Goalie Game' and much more....

In part 2 of my conversation with Kendal McWade we go into more detail about the approach that Kendal uses and how he engages with his athletes and help them achieve peak performance. In the cast we cover...- The difference between 'guided discovery' and 'guided exploration'. - Going from asking 82 questions per session to asking less questions and better questions- Coaching an athlete without looking at the outcome of what they do.Why positive feedback might just be coaches stroking their egos- How to "help the player get to the place where learning resides"

In this 2 part episode, I talk to a genuine master practitioner, Kendal McWade. Kendal is a golf coach who works with some of the most able young players in England as a regional coach for England Golf. His methods and his approach are truly captivating and this episode was a genuine eye opener for me. In the epidode we cover...- Why throwing golf clubs is a good way to get better- The difference between 'technique out' versus 'environment in' coaching approaches- How a focus on performance can get in the way of developing skill. - How to help athletes to reach a flow state while in training.

I this episode I respond to some of the criticism I received from some quarters of the academic community for my recent episode (episode 2) 'The War on Drills' and explain the rationale behind this stance.

My Co-Host - Nick Levett and I get into the subject of managing parental behaviour. In this episode, we focus on strategies to ensure a positive environment when parents are spectating so that they don't ruin the experience for the kids and they allow for a learning culture for the players.

In this episode I explain why coaches are addicted to drills and why drills should have no place in the talent development landscape.

In this episode, I talk with Mark O'Sullivan from the amazing blog https://footblogball.wordpress.com/ about talent ID in sport and the scary scenario where children as young as 4 are being invited to 'Talent ID' sessions. What can we do about it? What should we do about it? How can parents, coaches and administrators push back against this development and take back children's sport?