Advertise on podcast: The Sport Psych Show

In this episode I'm delighted to welcome back Prof Mark Williams to the show. Mark has 35+ years experience as a research scientist, academic and consultant in high-performance sport. His research work focuses on the neural and psychological mechanisms underpinning the acquisition and development of skill. Mark is a Distinguished Professor at South China Normal University, a Visiting Professor at Loughborough University and an Adjunct Professor at multiple Universities in America. Mark has published almost 300 full journal articles in peer-reviewed outlets in numerous fields including exercise and sports science, experimental psychology, neuroscience and medicine. He has written and edited 24 books, more than 90 book chapters, and delivered more than 300 keynote and invited lectures in over 30 countries. Mark is co-author of an Amazon best-selling book entitled 'The Best: How Elite Athletes are Made. Mark is a Fellow of the British Psychological Society, National Academy of Kinesiology, Chartered Association of Sport and Exercise Science, and the European College of Sports Sciences. He is Chartered by the British Psychological Society as a Practicing Psychologist and a Research Scientist.

I speak with Morten Bertelsen in this week's episode. Morten is the first team sport psychologist at F.C. Copenhagen supporting players, coaches, and staff in one of Scandinavia's leading football clubs. Morten has worked with the development of people and organisations in many contexts for the past 15 years. His work places particular emphasis on the relational side of performance - exploring how trust, communication, shared understanding, psychological safety and the quality of relationships between players can influence performance under pressure. Morten holds degrees in both psychology from the University of Copenhagen and sport science from the University of Southern Denmark. Across a career spanning more than two decades, he has worked across elite sport, organisational psychology, leadership, consultancy and education. Morten has also held teaching roles at Aalborg University and the University of Copenhagen. Alongside his work in elite football, Morten speaks and consults with organisations, leaders and teams, translating lessons from high-performance sport into practical approaches to leadership, relationships, collaboration and team performance.

I speak with performance psychologist, author, researcher, and world-leading expert in flow, Dr Sue Jackson in this week's episode. Sue's expertise is grounded in the psychology of flow: the state of optimal engagement and experience. Sue primarily works as a consultant with athletes, medical professionals, business leaders, and performing artists to optimise potential, manage pressure, and create meaningful, high-quality experiences in their personal and professional lives. She has published extensively on the subject of flow and related psychological concepts. In collaboration with her mentor and the founder of flow, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Sue co-authored "Flow in Sports", a book that introduced athletes and coaches worldwide to applying flow to performance. In this this episode we discuss Sue's new book "Experiencing Flow: Life Beyond Boredom and Anxiety", a book that shares practical insights drawn from decades of research, applied consulting, and direct collaboration with Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi.

I speak with J.P. Nerbun in this week's episode. J.P. is a leading expert on culture transformation and the author of four books on leadership. He is the founder and CEO of TOC, an ecosystem of online communities, courses, and coaching for sports organisations worldwide. An ICF PCC Executive Coach, he specialises in developing high-performance leaders and teams across the sports, education, and corporate sectors. In this episode J.P. and I speak about his latest book "The Culture Captain: A 4-Level Framework for Athletes: Know Yourself, Lead Yourself, Lead Others, Lead the Team" which provides practical leadership tools and coaching for athletes. Drawing on his coaching conversations with over 100 elite athletes and research into the world's greatest athlete leaders, this transformational guide is designed to be experienced, not just read. Through the fictional story of Lily and real-world examples of elite leaders, readers will be coached through a J.P's 4-level leadership framework.

In this episode I'm joined by Pip Henderson, Dr Will Vickery and Prof Shane Pill to discuss a paper which examines how sport coaches conceptualise success. Pip works in the Discipline of Trauma and Injury at Flinders University. She is a member of FHMRI's Health Equity Impact Program (HEIP). Pip's research practices are grounded in meaningful community engagement. Working directly with students, players, coaches, teachers, principals, and sport and community leaders across multiple projects has facilitated her deep understanding of the value and complexities of education, sport, and health across a variety of settings. Pip has worked with a range of local and national education, health and sporting organisations, including Oceania Hockey Federation, Tennis Australia, Volleyball Australia, the Department for Education, and the Australian Council for Health, Physical Education and Recreation (ACHPER). Will is a Senior Advisor at the Australian Sports Commission where he is responsible for the development and delivery of community coach education across Australia. Will has held positions at various academic institutions within Australia and the UK with a focus on sport coaching. He has supervised numerous undergraduate and postgraduate research projects across an array of disciplines (sport science, sports coaching, sport psychology). He has also held a number of cricket coaching and related roles ranging across community through to high-performance sport. Shane is one of Australia's leading coach educators and developers, and thought leaders in physical education. He is Professor of Physical Education and Sport at Flinders University. Shane's research is in the fields of sport coaching and physical education curriculum and pedagogy, and education leadership. He has authored over 300 peer reviewed and scholarly articles. Shane has been awarded Australian Council for Health, Physical Education and Recreation (ACHPER) Life Member & Fellow status for his distinguished service to the fields of sport, physical education and recreation over many years.

I'm delighted to welcome Dr Jerry Lynch and John O'Sullivan back to the show to discuss their brand new book "Captain: The Athlete's Guide to Being an Exceptional Team Leader". Jerry is a performance, leadership and coaching expert helping people of all ages and abilities in all arenas of performance to develop the qualities of courage, integrity, fearlessness, tenacity, patience, persistence in order to overcome mental and emotional blocks. Jerry helps individuals and teams to create confidence, mental toughness, inspiration and empowerment for competitive events and to better navigate the unchartered waters of life. He has worked with athletes and teams at universities such as The University of North Carolina, Duke, Maryland, Oregon State, Stanford, Harvard, and more. John is an internationally known speaker for coaches, parents and youth sports organisations, and has spoken for TEDx, the US Olympic Committee, US Soccer, USA Wrestling, USA Swimming, Ireland Rugby, Australian Rugby League and at numerous events around the world. John's work has been featured by CNN, Outside Magazine, ESPN, NBC Sports and numerous other media entities. John's background as an athlete and coach led him to start the Changing the Game project with the mission to put the 'play' back into 'play ball' by providing parents and coaches with the information and resources they need to make sport a healthy, positive, and rewarding experience for their children. In their new book, 'Captain', Jerry and John share wisdom accrued from decades of consultation with well over 100 championship teams, dozens of Hall of Fame coaches, and hundreds of interviews with Olympic, world champion, and professional athletes and team leaders. The lessons in this book will help readers start leading in a positive and constructive way, stop certain behaviours before they destroy team culture, and face the many challenges of being a team captain. Through numerous stories of well-known leaders such as Tim Duncan, Steve Kerr, Carla Overbeck, Abby Wambach, Carles Puyol, Richie McCaw, and Simone Biles, as well as lessons from Eastern philosophy and Western psychology, this book will help readers become a respected leader and a trusted bridge between coaches and teammates.

On this week's episode I hand the reins over to my long-time friend, Mark Peters, to discuss my new book Compete: Developing a Mental Playbook for Performance Under Pressure in Sport. Mark is Deputy Head and former Director of Sport at Hornsby House School and Chair of Governors at Lark Hall Primary Campus. Mark has a strong history of coaching a variety of sports and has experience as a coach educator. Mark and I discuss Compete in depth and I break down the contents chapter by chapter bringing to life some of the skills and techniques contained within. Compete: Developing a Mental Playbook for Performance Under Pressure in Sport is out now and available to purchase online.

I speak with Richard Fryer in this week's episode. Richard is a psychologist working in high performance sport in Australia. Richard works with many of Australia's highest profile sporting teams and athletes and has supported Australians at five Olympic and Paralympic Games. Richard's passion is helping individuals, teams, and organisations achieve their performance potential. Richard is a Senior Consultant with the Australian Institute of Sport, helping national sporting organisations design mental performance programs for athletes and coaches. Coming from a background in rowing coaching, Richard is passionate about helping coaches build their skills in the mental side of coaching performance. In this episode we discuss a paper Richard led which examines coaching under pressure.

I'm delighted to speak with Dr Séamus Harvey and Dr Chin Wei Ong in this week's episode. We discuss a mental well-being screening process which was implemented at an elite youth football academy developed by Séamus, Chin and colleagues. Séamus is a Postdoctoral Researcher with the NetwellCASALA research centre at Dundalk Institute of Technology. Séamus researches digital health and health psychology as well as sport and exercise psychology. Séamus also lectures on Dundalk Institute of Technology's (DkIT's) Health and Physical Activity programme. Séamus completed his MSc. in Applied Sport and Exercise Psychology at Ulster University and a PhD in Sport Psychology at Bangor University. Prior to his PhD, Séamus worked as a Research Assistant with Liverpool John Moores University. Chin is a behavioural scientist and consultant with 15+ years' experience across elite sport, research, and organisational contexts. Chin's work focuses on how individuals and teams perform under pressure, and how organisations can design systems that enable sustainable performance. Chin previously worked across a global network of elite environments, designing systems that integrated performance, talent development, wellbeing, and risk. These are challenges that closely mirror those faced by organisations operating in complex, high-stakes contexts. Chin is particularly interested in helping organisations move beyond measuring talent to truly understanding it; using that insight to build stronger leaders, more effective teams, and resilient performance cultures.

I'm delighted to speak with Daniel Coyle in this week's episode. Daniel is the award-winning author of multiple New York Times bestsellers including The Talent Code and The Culture Code. Daniel's work explores how people and groups grow, perform, and thrive. He combines immersive field reporting with behavioural science to create practical frameworks for building skill, culture, and meaningful connection. Daniel has worked as a consultant with the Cleveland Guardians since 2013, and as an advisor to military special forces, professional sports teams, schools, and other organisations. He has written for Outside, Sports Illustrated, The New York Times Magazine, and Play, served as consulting producer on the ESPN documentary series, Enhanced, and worked as an adjunct professor at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. In this episode Daniel and I speak about his latest book Flourish: The Art of Building Meaning, Joy and Fulfilment.

I speak with Declan O'Connell in this week's episode. Declan is a coach and performance consultant with over 20 years working with elite sports, global executive teams, and high-performance environments across the world. Declan is currently finalising his Doctorate in Elite Performance Psychology at Dublin City University. His doctorate research focuses on developing adaptability in individuals, teams and organisations. In this episode we discuss a paper Declan co-authored with Dr Robin Taylor "What got me here, won't get me there – how the world's best sports coaches successfully adapt their expertise in different environments". The study explores how world-class coaches develop and apply Adaptive Expertise (AE) across multiple high-performance settings. The findings offer a practical framework for developing Accelerated Learning and underscore its value in navigating the uncertainties and transitions inherent in high-performance sport.

I'm delighted to speak with Andreas Küttel in this week's episode. Andreas is a Swiss former ski jumper who won five World Cup competitions from 2005 to 2007, and placed third in the overall World Cup in 2006. He won a gold medal in the individual large hill event at the 2009 Ski Jumping World Championships. Andreas also competed at three Winter Olympics, earning his best finish of fifth in the individual normal hill event in 2006. After his competing days, Andreas entered academia working in the field of sports science at the University of Southern Denmark. In this episode we discuss a research paper he led on which explores mental health and performance dynamics in elite sport.

I speak with Dr David Moran in this week's episode. David is a coach and coach developer in Gaelic games. He is a post-doctoral researcher with the Insight Research Ireland Centre for Data Analytics and the School of Health and Human Performance at Dublin City University. We discuss a paper David led which examines grouping players by ability. Following the introduction of formal competition structures, youth sport often features ability grouping, referred to as streaming, for training and competition. In Gaelic games, a set of participatory sports indigenous to Ireland, streaming is commonly used to organize players. Despite its prevalence, streaming in sport has been under-researched. This study explored the experiences and perceptions of players, parents, and coaches across five Gaelic games clubs. It's findings on the advantages and disadvantages of streaming are relevant across all sports and will be of interest to every coach involved in youth sports.

I'm delighted to speak with Katja Rewitz in this week's episode. Katja is a second year PhD student at the Dynamics of Human Performance Regulation Laboratory at the University of Hamburg. Her research focuses on human sensations and their influence on decision-making and performance behaviour. In this episode, we discuss a fascinating paper led by Katja which examines the explore-exploit framework related to decision making in sport and exercise. The explore-exploit framework has been instrumental in advancing our understanding of decision-making across fields such as cognitive science, behavioural economics, and clinical psychology. The authors propose that the explore-exploit framework could provide valuable insights into decision-making processes in sports and exercise where decisions naturally occur in dynamic, uncertain environments with fluctuating rewards and inherent costs.

I speak with Dr Simon Quick in this week's episode. Simon is a lecturer in Sport Coaching at the University of Essex, specialising in sport pedagogy, coaching ethics, and holistic athlete development. Simon previously taught Physical Education in high schools holding leadership roles including Head of Physical Education, Athletic Director, and Deputy Headteacher. Simon is an active researcher and collaborator, with recent publications in leading journals such as the International Sport Coaching Journal, Quest, International Journal of Sport Science and Coaching, and Journal of Teaching in Physical Education. Simon completed his PhD at Leeds Beckett University. His current research focuses on the tensions between athlete performance and welfare in high-performance sport.