The Talent Equation Podcast

Phillip O'Callaghan is a tennis coach from Cork in Ireland. As he says in this podcast, people from Cork are very humble (even though Cork might well be the most represented city on my podcast!) so he describes himself on his bio on his website www.mrtenniscoach.com as being..."Really passionate about learning how to be a better coach and spend a lot of my free time learning about coaching. I'll be sharing lots of content here that will also help you improve or learn more about coaching". This doesn't really explain properly what Phillip does...he actually takes really dense academic articles or book chapters and creates simplified blog posts and twitter threads that the rest of us could understand...he is a great source of knowledge. Follow him on Twitter at @Mr_tennis_coach https://twitter.com/Mr_Tennis_Coach

Dr Amy. E Whitehead, PhD is Reader (Associate Professor) in Sport Psychology and Coaching at Liverpool John Moores University. Amy also delivers sport psychology support and coach development to a range of athletes and coaches, and also brings this work into her teaching in the classroom.Jenny Coe is Head of Performance and Wellbeing with West Ham United Women’s Team. She also works across a number of Olympic sports as a high performance coach developer and performance analyst. Her athletic career spanned 15 years of international basketball, and she also has a wealth of experience coaching internationally. On the back of that, she is a founding member of the company Impact the Game that aims to support athletes and coaches in all areas of performance. She is an advocate for mental health and women in sport, and she continues to support and influence change in these areas.'Myths of Sport Coaching' is an edited book that brings together international researchers and practitioners sharing theoretical and practi

Happy New Year - welcome to 2022!!Ian Renshaw and Peter Arnott make a welcome return to the podcast. If you haven't heard them before then I recommend checking out these other episodes where they have made appearances before (Links below). In this episode we discuss Ian and Peter's latest project 'Swing Like Tiger' which is a course that they have created for players and coaches to learn all about the little known secrets of how Tiger became so great. This isn't just a golf podcast - there are lessons galore. Listen to the end to get a discount code from Peter to access the course. Peter, Ian and Greame MacDowell https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/improving-impoverished-practice-environments-a/id1209549739?i=1000502085156Ian https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/exploring-representative-practice-design-a/id1209549739?i=1000499156547Peterhttps://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/when-i-am-coaching-on-the-range-i-can-feel-myself/id1209549739?i=1000499156452

Jia Yi Chow is the Associate Dean within the Office of Teacher Education at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. Jia-Yi is most well known for being one of the originators of the concept of 'Non-Linear Pedagogy' which was articulated in a seminal book he co wrote with Keith Davids, Ian Renshaw and Chris Button in 2015 https://amzn.to/3GXgdPAIn this podcast we dive into the key concepts of non linear pedagogy and explore applications and some common misconceptions related to this theory. This was a great conversation to end the year on. Hope you enjoy.

Martyn Rothwell is a lecturer in sports coaching at Sheffield Hallam University. He is the national coach for the England Wheelchair Rugby League team and has worked in the fields of coaching and talent development since 2003. His latest research looks into the practices and behaviours of coaches in professional rugby league academies and explores how stated aspirations around the development of creative players actually manifest when the coaches are at work.

Olympic Champion, Amy Williams MBE joins me to explore the entire sporting journey from someone with potential to Olympic glory. Using her own experiences & those of some of Britain’s greatest athletes to help young athletes turn their ability into performance.We talk about mindset, confidence, teamwork, overcoming barriers & setbacks, dealing with injuries, longevity, training & preparation. We also take a deep dive into what it takes to drive a skeleton bob sled, the skill involved and the embodied cognition that is required. You can buy the book here https://amzn.to/3DSV2wJ (this is an affiliate link using this link helps the show as a small contribution is made)

Jack Rolfe is the founder of 'The Coaching Lab' a hothouse of coaching innovation including the creation of the Coaching Lab 'Matchplay Cards'. MatchPlay Cards support coaches to change the game and coach through games, add in-game challenges and set player missions. Jack shares his story about how he created these cards and also the research and theory behind them. We also geek out on various ways that we apply these ideas and actually design a session in the course of the discussion. The cards can be purchased here https://www.thecoachinglab.org/Hope you enjoy

Stephen Griffin is a former certified accountant who became an angel investor and fund manager into community sports organisations and companies. His journey took him into some of the shady underbelly of sports organisations that are outwardly providing positive community physical activity experiences but are actually acting corruptly and dealing in illegal immigration, people trafficking and inhumane working conditions. It is a shocking story that serves as a stark reminder of what can happen when corporate greed meets community sport and physical activity. Stephen's book can be bought here https://amzn.to/32drOuv (this is an affiliate link - using this helps to support the show!) If you would like to support the show and/or would like to join my community of learning 'The Conclave' then head over to https://www.patreon.com/thetalentequation?fan_landing=trueHis experiences led him to write FRONT ROW SEAT - Greed and Corruption in a Youth Sports Company. and LOST LOCKER ROOM - The Collapse of Global Premier S

Rob Gray is a regular guest on The Talent Equation and should be well known to regular listeners. Rob is an associate professor in human systems engineering in the Polytechnic School at Arizona State University as well as the host of the brilliant 'Perception and Action Podcast' (I like to think of it as the 'brainy cousin' of this show!). In this conversation Rob drops by to talk to me about the content of his new book 'How we learn to move: a revolution in the way we coach and practice sports skills'. We cover a lot including: Why Rob thinks that dribbling round cones has no functionHow he 'self organised towards self organisation'Why the idea of 'one repeatable perfect technique' is a mythHope you enjoyUse this link to buy the book for yourself and all of your coaching friends for Christmas (it is an affiliate link and helps to support the show) https://amzn.to/3DlvMip

Andy Pitchford is the Head of the Centre for Teaching and Education at the University of Westminster in London. His research is in the fields of education, pedagogy and community sport. In the early 2000s, Andy was part of a team of researchers who investigated safeguarding in sport, and particularly in football, and this led to a series of publications including a book - Child Welfare in Football - that was published by Routledge in 2007. More recently, Andy has worked with colleagues on another Routledge text, 'The Handbook of Authentic Learning', which reflects more recent interest in pedagogies that give students power and agency. In this conversation Andy shares some of the insights from a new paper that he has written that is currently in review called 'Playing Uphill and Into the Wind: Counter Cultural Coaching in Youth Football.' The conversation explores the experiences of coaches that have tried to work in a child centred way and how challenging it has been for them to overcome a culture that has be

Dr Andrew Wilson (@psychscientists) is an internationally recognised expert in perception, action and embodied cognition. His research interests are broadly in the area of perception and action, with a particular interest in learning and theories of embodied cognition.Andrew joined the talent equation learning community aka 'The Conclave' to share some of his latest projects working with Southampton Football club including the development of a new coaching curriculum. The session allowed Andrew to 'think aloud' about some of the applications of the ecological approach in this context and to play with some ideas as to the best ways of implementing some of these ideas. It's a fascinating discussion that I hope you enjoy.

Jamie Munro is a Lacrosse coach who has found a fascinating way to coach his sport through film. His method is to use free play as the basis for learning and to then use reflection through watching the film of these sessions with athletes to observe what might be useful as a tool for learning. Jamie is a free play evangelist but as he say's this doesn't remove the place for the coach, in fact the coach is really important in free play....just important in a different way...."the Free Play model doesn't remove good coaching from the development equation. Good coaches have tremendous value as mentors, as teachers, and as tacticians, but coaches can't teach "Feel". Only the game can teach "Feel" and the "Feel" is the whole key!"Jamie has a podcast too so we decided to have an exchange of ideas and to post the outcome on our respective shows...You can find out more about Jamie and his approach here... https://www.jm3sports.com

Laurence Cassoe Halsted is a two-time Olympic fencer, having competed for Team GB in the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Games. Following his retirement from competitive fencing after Rio he has been in the role of Performance Director for the Danish Fencing Federation. Laurence is also engaged with a charity called The True Athlete Project as Director of Mentoring. ​In this conversation we dive into Laurence's experiences as an athlete, coach and performance director and how they have shaped the writing of his new book 'Becoming a True Athlete'. We discuss how coaches and parents can help young people to unleash far more of their potential as individuals and groups, through a better understanding of what drives us as humans tapping in to our deepest sense of purpose and meaning in life, while connecting us more closely with nature and with each other.https://www.laurencehalsted.comhttps://www.sequoia-books.com/catalog/halsted/

Dr Josephine Perry is a chartered psychologist working with those in sport and on the stage and in business to help them overcome their barriers to success so they can achieve their goals.Josie has a background in communications and behaviour change having worked for many years in journalism, marketing, public relations and crisis communications across private corporations and government. She has a MSc in Communications, a MSc in Psychology and a MSc in Sport and Exercise Psychology. She also has a PhD in Political Communications. In this conversation we explore some of the key takeaways from her new book 'I Can: A Teenage Athletes Guide to Mental Fitness' and cover a range of subjects including athlete wellbeing, toxic environments, why mental toughness is all wrong and how parents and coaches can avoid falling into the 'expectations trap'. https://performanceinmind.co.uk/https://performanceinmind.co.uk/shop/#ican

Craig Morris joins some members of The Talent Equation learning community 'The Conclave' and myself from his hotel room in Slovakia (where he is preparing for a world championships with his athletes) to share some reflections from his experiences at the recent Tokyo Olympic Games. It is an open and honest insight into the preparation for the games during the pandemic and the ways that he and the athletes were forced to adapt their training to address this...he also shares some of the experiences of the games themselves and what he took away from the experience.

Andy Kirkland is a Lecturer in Sports Coaching in the Faculty of Health Sciences and Sport at the University of Stirling in Scotland. He leads the MSc. in Performance Coaching at the university as well as being a Chartered Scientist and a BASES Accredited Sport & Exercise Scientist (support & pedagogy).Andy has worked as a sport physiologist, a coach developer at British Cycling and support others in developing performance environments. He is also a practicing high performance triathlon coach. This conversation was stimulated by an article that Andy wrote that created some challenges for the coaching industry in the UK. We explore some of his ideas and I share some perspectives from my role leading coaching system transformation at Sport England (this is a bit of a departure for me as I usually keep the podcast quite separate from my day job but in the this case I felt that the discussion warranted publication here. You can read the article here. https://spark.adobe.com/page/p8LN8wGMqTC6V/Hope you enj

David Hinchliffe makes a welcome return to talk about his coaching experiences working with a constraint led, ecologically driven model within a school environment within mixed ability groups. We explore motivational challenges, 'false gamification', co-designing practice and loads of examples of activities and practice types linked to various types of striking games. David also does some counselling for me to help me work through the challenges that I have been facing coaching u13s (including my son!)Hope you enjoy

It's been a while since my last DWD but I had to record an episode to reflect on the journey of the England Football Team during the European Championships ahead of the final on Sunday. I have been fortunate to spend time with Gareth Southgate, the England Head Coach on a couple of occasions and I was able to glean some insights from those interactions that I think are relevant to the success that the team are currently enjoying and would be useful for any coach. Hope you enjoy*GB actually won 1 gold medal in Atlanta (not 1 bronze as I said in the recording) among a total medal haul of 15.

Professor Sean Cumming is internationally recognised as a leading expert on the subject of growth and maturation in sport and exercise. Adopting a biocultural perspective, his research seeks to understand how biological and psychosocial factors impact athletic development and the maintenance of health behaviours during adolescence.Sean joins me for a discussion about the science behind adolescent development and some of the latest thinking in relation to the ways that young athletes could be grouped for competition and selection which would provide for a more effective and inclusive athlete development experience. Hope you enjoy

In this podcast, the tables get turned on me as instead of being the one asking the questions and framing the discussion I am in the hot seat as the subject of a conversation with the awesome Skye Eddy Bruce from the 'Soccer Parenting Association'. We talk about how coaches and parents can work together to develop athletes and the role that parents can play as the first coach of their children. We explore skill development, maturation and how the creation of a motivational climate. Hope you enjoy