The Talent Equation Podcast

Adam Kelly is a Senior Lecturer and the Course Leader for Sports Coaching and Physical Education at Birmingham City University. He consults with international institutions and organisations in a number of professional sports, including football, rugby union, cricket, swimming, squash, and ice hockey. In this conversation Adam and I explore the latest research into non linear and more equitable talent development and competition frameworks. We discuss the relative merits of 'Birthday Banding' , Bio Banding', 'Average Team Age' and 'Playing Up/Down' approaches. Hope you enjoyLinks to research articles 'Birthday Banding' - https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fspor.2020.573890/full 'Playing Up / Down' - https://qspace.library.queensu.ca/handle/1974/27544?show=full'Average Team Age' - https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003163572-10/average-team-age-method-potential-reduce-relative-age-effects-jan-verbeek-steve-lawrence-jorg-van-der-breggen-adam-kelly-laura-jonker 'Bio Banding' - http

Adam Haniver is a boxing coach and coach educator that works in the England Boxing talent pathway. He is also the co founder of 'The Box Gathering' - a community of learning for coaches in the boxing world to come together and explore ideas. Adam is a coach that is passionate about learning and improvement and this conversation was stimulated by him reaching out to me with a question following a podcast I recently published with Coach Casey Wheel which touched on deceptive actions. We look at the applications of ecological principles in boxing and get practical as we explore different practice concepts that could be used in a 1 to 1 opponent situation. Hope you enjoy

Ben Bell is a football coach that is also a Masters Student studying the applications of the Constraints Led approach in Football. His studies led to him to write a book which he hopes will bridge the gap between the theory and the application. 'Introduction to the Constraints-Led Approach: Application in Football' is a coaching resource football coaches can use to understand key theoretical underpinnings such as ecological dynamics, perception-action, degrees of freedom and complexity theory. Examples are then provided within theoretical chapters to assist readers in their practical application. Over 30 designed practices using the constraints-led approach show readers how the theory translates into practice. It was a great conversation...I hope you enjoy.

In this episode the tables get turned a little as I am joined by Tim Marshall who is starting a post graduate course looking at all aspects of coach education and he asked me if he could interview me for an assignment he has coming up. I agreed on the proviso that we could record it and share it on the podcast. So here is a look at the history of coach education, how we got to where we are and where we need to go to next. Hope you enjoy

My good friend William Anderson and I caught up recently to discuss the fascinating story of his 5 year journey to go from average player to international representation. It is a story of commitment, planning, relentlessness, perseverance and hard work. William shares how he used the skills and knowledge gained from a career as a specialist in providing experiential learning solutions for corporate clients and sporting organisations to develop a plan to achieve his dream of representing England. There are so many takeaways that apply to all aspects of human development. I hope you enjoy. Check out William's website and blog here https://www.the-teamworks.co.uk/

Danny Newcombe makes a welcome return to the show to share his experiences since taking over the Head Coach role with the Wales Senior Men's Field Hockey programme. Danny is his usual very open and vulnerable self and his reflections are relevant to anyone taking a leadership role in pretty much any walk of life. As you would expect, the conversations meanders on to the specifics of coaching and we explore a range of subjects related to practice design, individual practice, game based approaches, over constraining, co adaptation....the list goes on. Lots and lots to be taken out of this conversation. Hope you enjoy.

This is an 'Ask Me Anything' (AMA) episode where I respond to listener questions that have been sent to me. I can't respond to every question but I will respond on here if it is a particularly interesting questions that requires a more thorough response than I have time to write. This one is all about CLA in coach education. Generally, I prioritise questions that come from people who subscribe to the website or support the show through Patreon....if you would like to support the show in this way (buy a cup of coffee a month) head to https://www.patreon.com/thetalentequation

Sometimes the stars align and the article you have just published speaks perfectly to the next guest you booked on your podcast. This weeks episode I speak to Martin Erikstad who is a researcher at the Department of Public Health, Sport and Nutrition, Universitetet i Agder in Norway. Martin has just published a fascinating case study about a football club called FK Bryne which is a small city of 12,000 people in North West Norway which is defined as a talent hotbed. The study follows the journey of a team of young players that included Erling Haaland (the young super star striker that plays for Borussia Dortmund and has been linked with every top club in Europe) and their coach and the remarkable environment that they created which led to amazing outcomes in terms of retention, progression and personal growth of the young players. It is a real life Norwegian version of Coach Carter. It's telling that the club motto is "We will enjoy football, cultivate talent and perform miracles". https://journals.humankinet

Casey Wheel studied Kinesiology at San Diego State University while also interning with the strength and conditioning department. He still lives in the San Diego area working as the strength coach for Pacific Ridge School. His passion lies with the development of young athletes and developing programs that build agility and something he calls 'athletic plasticity'. In this conversation Casey and I explore his approach to developing movement within a framework that is mainly grounded in principles associated with non linear pedagogical thinking. He shares his layering system for practice types and explains why agility is not the same as 'change of direction'. He shares some cool games (that I have already stolen!) and we talk about movement deception and why agility work is like the 'rap battle' of physical activity and is full of 'movement banter'.Its a cool conversation....Hope you enjoy

Over Christmas I got to reading some books. The latest from Andreu Enrich '50 tips for intelligent players' spoke to me very deeply so I asked Andreu to come back on the show following his debut with me just before Christmas to talk me through some of the ideas in the book and let me check my understanding of some of the concepts. Although this book was originally written with Field Hockey players in mind, it has significant cross over and transfer to a range of other invasion sports. The tips are written for players but they have huge potential for the development of coaches as they ask questions about the kind of environments that are required to support the development of 'intelligent players'. In part 2 we cover 6 of the later chapters that I handpicked because they were particularly interesting to me. Hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I did.

AMA - (Ask Me Anything) Dog Walk Diary where I respond to a great question from Rob Farrington about whether we should coach using an Information Processing approach if the athlete prefers it. Should we be athlete centred and respond to their preferences? If you would like to ask a question or become part of the Talent Equation Community then head over to my Patreon page and you can choose a donation amount. https://www.patreon.com/thetalentequation?fan_landing=trueIf money is an issue then just drop me a line and I will get you access. I don't want money to stop people joining.

Mark Bennett makes a return to the Conclave to explore some of the latest innovations in his Performance Development System (PDS) approach and to take some questions from the members of the group. In this conversation Mark shares; - Some evolutions to the famous 'rule of 3' called the '3 A's'. - How to enable players to learn to review rapidly in the moment. - The 12 (I think it was 12) types of live review- Why coaches should train for team and individual interaction. This is a full on, high octane ride through the world of PDS. Buckle Up!!

This podcast is a bit different. Not only was it the first podcast that I have recorded live, it was a podcast with 2 people who were riding stationary bikes doing a charity virtual bike ride! In this episode I talk with Gary Laybourne, CEO of Coach Core and Steve Mitchell, one of the trustees...to discuss the amazing work they do to support young people from disadvantaged backgrounds to start their career in the world of sports coaching...all while Gary is riding his turbo trainer 202 miles from London to Manchester on Zwift....It's a unique but also humbling and amazing conversation...Hope you enjoyIf you would like to contribute to the fundraising effort here is the link to the Just Giving Page https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/gary-laybourne

This podcast is a bit different - I am on the other side of the mic and I am being asked the questions as this is my appearance on 'The Coach's Road' podcast hosted by Derek Read and Rick Schreiber. Both postgraduate students at Vierumäki University in Finland. Derek is 22 years old and in his fifth year of coaching. Originally from Colorado, he started coaching while completing his degree in computer science at the university of Colorado at boulder. After his degree he moved to vierumäki, Finland to pursue his passion of coaching youth Hockey and move towards his goal of becoming a coach developer. Rick is 23 years old and has spent his youth playing hockey in Berlin, Germany. After finishing his high school degree, he moved to Dresden to do a volunteer social year for the Eislöwen Juniors. During that year, he gained his first coaching experiences. he moved to Vierumäki in 2018 to follow his passion and goal of coaching in a competitive environment one day. Currently, he is in his fourth year of coaching. T

Over Christmas I got to reading some books. The latest from Andreu Enrich '50 tips for intelligent players' spoke to me very deeply so I asked Andreu to come back on the show following his debut with me just before Christmas to talk me through some of the ideas in the book and let me check my understanding of some of the concepts. Although this book was originally written with Field Hockey players in mind, it has significant cross over and transfer to a range of other invasion sports. The tips are written for players but they have huge potential for the development of coaches as they ask questions about the kind of environments that are required to support the development of 'intelligent players'. In part 1 we cover 6 of the early chapters that I handpicked because they were particularly interesting to me. Hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I did.

Joe Baker is Professor at the School of Kinesiology and Health Science at York University. He makes a welcome return to the podcast along with his research associate, Alexandra 'Sandy' Mosher. Joe's research team focuses on optimal human development to understand how someone gets to, and stays at, the highest levels of performance. His previous research in this area has considered various psychosocial and environmental factors influencing athletic skill development across a range of sports to catalogue the extensive range of factors affecting an athlete's capacity to maximize their potential. In this episode with unpack some fascinating new research which challenges the commonly held suggestion that early specialisation is "the villain of talent development", how it might be possible to experience 'healthy early specialisation' and why the link between early specialisation and burnout and injury is not what we think it is. It is a fascinating discussion...I hope you enjoy

Skye is the founder of the Soccer Parenting Association with a mission of inspiring players by empowering parents. A former professional player, Skye has coached extensively in the youth and collegiate games she is also a sought after Coach & Parent Educator and Club Consultant.In this conversation we discuss the ways that coaches can develop strong relationships with players and parents. Skye explains a framework that she uses to support the creation of positive connections through the '4 dimensions of a 'sense of community''. This is a fascinating conversation full of fascinating insight into the key relationships between coaches, parents and athletes.

Kasey Crider is Associate Head Coach for the Miami University Women's Volleyball Programme. His journey into coaching is an interesting one...he gave up a career as a professional athlete while still in his early twenties to pursue a career as a coach because he couldn't think of a more honourable profession. This is an individual with a genuine passion for supporting others and as such possesses an insatiable drive to learn and improve. In this conversation we discuss how his dissatisfaction with the traditional approaches that dominate his sport led him to seek out alternative answers and the challenges he has experienced ever since. I hope you enjoy the conversation.

Cal Jones is an advanced Judo coach from North Wales. He has been exploring the application of ecological approaches since he was exposed to the approaches as a participant by a coach who he describes as 'intensely likeable'. His post graduate research saw him create an assessment tool (called an RPAT) to assess how representative a practice activity in Judo is. In this conversation Cal and I discuss the application of ecological approaches to Judo and the challenges to applying these approaches in certain contexts and against a set of culturally resilient expectations that are hardwired into the psyche of the Judo community. Its a fascinating conversation. Hope you enjoyQuick warning...there is some poor sound early in the episode but it doesn't last for long and we get it fixed...its worth persevering!

Andreu Enrich is a Field Hockey Coach, Author and Coach Educator from Terrassa in Northern Spain. As a player he won eight Spanish national titles in 11 years with his home club Atlètic Terrassa – four of them as captain. He was also part of the Spanish National team that won the Champions Trophy for the first time in 2004.He has held trainer and assistant coach positions since 2013 with Pinoké (Netherlands), Atlètic Terrassa, the Spanish Hockey Association, Hamburger Polo Club, Leuven and he is now the Head Coach at Mannheimer HC in Germany. In this conversation we discuss why Andreu is a 'radical' when it comes to rejecting drills in his practice and his devotion to the use of small sided games that can create a 'heatmap of affordances' for players to create a genuine understanding of the way that the interact in the complexity of a game. We also delve into his ideas around the ways that players experience moments of flow in sport through their immersion in representative learning environments so that 'di