The Talent Equation Podcast

John O'Sullivan started the Changing the Game Project in 2012 after two decades as a soccer player and coach on the youth, high school, college and professional level. He is the author of the #1 bestselling books Changing the Game: The Parents Guide to Raising Happy, High Performing Athletes, and Giving Youth Sports Back to our Kids and Is it Wise to Specialize? John’s work has been featured in The Huffington Post, CNN.com, Outside Magazine, ESPN.com, Soccer America and numerous other publications. John is an internationally known speaker for coaches, parents and youth sports organizations, and has spoken for TEDx https://youtu.be/VXw0XGOVQvw, the National Soccer Coaches Association of America, US Lacrosse, IMG Academy, and at numerous other events throughout the US, Canada, Asia and Europe.In this conversation we discuss John's latest book, 'Every Moment Matters : How the world's best coaches inspire their athletes and build champion teams' and dig into some of the gold nuggets that are locked inside...I kn

Stephen Rollnick provides consultancy, mentorship and training on the subjects of motivation, change, teamwork and Motivational Interviewing. He an Honorary Distinguished Professor in the School of Medicine in Cardiff University, Wales, UK with a research record focused on good practice in efforts to promote change and behaviour change among patients, clients and the practitioners who serve them.Stephen's new book 'Coaching Athletes to Be Their Best: Motivational Interviewing in Sports' reveals why conventional ways of giving feedback and addressing conflict are often counterproductive, the book presents tried-and-tested methods for getting through to athletes and helping them to thrive. In this fascinating conversation we explore: - Why connecting with people is simple but very hard- How to roll with resistance- The secret to 'empathic listening'- How to avoid becoming a 'deficit detective'Here is the link to the publisher's of Stephen's Book, you can get a 25% discount by using the code AFSPO at checkout. h

Throughout her career as one of the world's top athletes, Annie Vernon struggled with a question about the purpose of sport in our society: why do we do it? What is it about our psyche that makes pushing the mind and body to their limits in order to win a foot race, a swimming race or a rowing race such a basic human desire? Having retired from competition, Annie decided to look for answers to these questions in the world of mind games. What is the psychology behind sport at an elite level?Through interviews with leading sports stars and the latest scientific research, 'Mind Games' discusses elite sports psychology in a way that is interesting to the watching public, sports fans and sports-haters alike, with Annie drawing on her own first-hand experiences to walk them through this fascinating subject.In this conversation we explore...- The value of competitiveness- Whether 'talent needs trauma' after all- The surprising truth about motivation (it's about chickens or pigs!)- Why coaches shouldn't try to be wiz

John Kessel works for USA Volleyball, as Director of Sport Development. He currently serves as the staff liaison for Disabled Programs & USA Deaflympic Teams. His main goal is to help make all coaches more efficient, positive and creative, no matter what level - 7 year olds in an elementary school program or National team players and programs. He challenges old ways of thinking and help coaches create what they need, while having fun in the process. In this fascinating conversation we discuss...- 'Training in reality and the quest for faster, denser motor learning- Why drills don't work (because humans aren't robots)- The 'white belt mentality' - What coaches can learn from surgeonsIt is a great conversation...I hope you enjoy Links Get my 'visual show notes' at http://www.thetalentequation.co.uk/podcastsJohn's Blog - https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Volleyball/Features/2016/November/01/IWantYouToMakeMistakesAustin's Butterfly - https://youtu.be/hqh1MRWZjms

James Vaughan returns to the podcast to share some of his latest insights into the world of talent development, skill acquisition and coaching. James is a coach at AIK Stockholm and is one of a team of experts that are leading a transformation in the way that the club engages with the community and with the young people within it's academy. It is a talent development environment that is very much 'bucking the trend'. In this conversation we explore...- How AIK are ensuring that what they are trying to do is being experienced by young people, coaches and parents. - How they utilise the 'Skilled Intentionality Framework' to shape their coaching activity. - Why 'The Cobra Effect' should be considered when making any kind of policy shift. - Practical considerations when applying 'The rule of 3' I hope you enjoyYou can find James' previous conversation on the show here https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/in-search-of-creativity-a-conversation-with-james-vaughan/id1209549739?i=1000411664849)

Ted Suikonen is a Skill Development Specialist Coach that has been working in professional ice hockey for most of his career. He is currently the skill development coach with Locomotiv Moscow in Russia and boasts an impressive track record of developing players to play at the elite level in Russia many of whom have been drafted into the NHL. In this fascinating conversation which we recorded when Ted was in the locker room straight after a session (forgive the background noise!) we explore a broad range of topics related to skill acquisition including: - Why every player is like a snowflake- Why technical skills camps are a scam- How to develop players with 'perceptual radar'- How Ted encourages players to coach other players to beat themselvesI hope you enjoy it as much as I did

James Stafford has a strong interest in how information guides movement. Questions like how can we judge a gap between cars when crossing a road and how does a cricketer successfully intercept a ball travelling at 90 mph led him to working with Professor Cathy Craig on a PhD at the Movement Innovation Lab at Queen's University Belfast. James wrote a fascinating thread on Twitter about the Australian cricketer, Steve Smith and the way he has developed a method of batting that is explained through ecological principles. https://twitter.com/JamesStafford94/status/1169619675656916992?s=20 that is well worth a read. We discuss this in this episode as well as a range of sports including the fascinating work he is doing using VR to develop goalkeeping ability by improving a goalkeeper's ability to perceive ball flights. It's a really fascinating conversation...I hope you enjoyhttps://incisiv.tech/ https://cleansheet.incisiv.techDon't forget to check out the new course for sports parents and parent coaches that I

Richard Shorter (AKA Non Perfect Dad) is back to help me celebrate 'Parents In Sport Week' and also because we have a special announcement to make about a new free course that we have created called 'Conversations 4 Growth' that is designed to support sports parents and coach parents to navigate the complexity of supporting and guiding young people through their sporting journey. The course comprises of 10 short 2-3 minute conversations between Richard and myself exploring a challenging discussion topic that we have faced in our interactions with our children. The course can be accessed at www.conversations4growth.co.ukIn this podcast episode we cover a LOT of ground...- Why most parent engagement is the equivalent of 'cones and drills' or 'beige food at parties'- Actionable steps to create a more inclusive and engaging environment for parental engagement- The 'Iceberg approach' to tackling challenging parental behaviours - Using Professor Jeff French's behaviour change framework to support parental engagemen

Rob Gray is Associate Professor of Human Systems Engineering at Arizona State University and host of the highly regarded Perception - Action Podcast. This is Rob's third appearance on the show and once again, he brings his 'A-Game' by providing a depth of insight and knowledge and also being very patient in answering my questions and helping me think out loud. In this conversation we cover the following...- A response to the accusation that ecological approaches to coaching are just 'old wine in new bottles'- Why a lot of 'constraints based' coaching is actually just 'unprincipled, atheoretical manipulations'- How developing 'functional variability' is the route to skillful performance- Why 1 v 0 is very different from '1 v unrepresentative 1' from an ecological perspective Hope you enjoyLink to Rob's website http://perceptionaction.com/

Marianne Davies' coaching experience includes more than 20 years of working in sports, academic and corporate environments. She is a coach educator, assessor and national trainer. Marianne spent eight years in the role of Coaching Manager for Canoe Wales and before that was responsible for participation development. Marianne worked for many years as a full-time senior adventure sports coach during which time she was responsible for the design and delivery of a two-year practical-based module for a Sports Science & Outdoor Education degree course at Bangor University. As well as training and assessing other coaches. In this conversation we discuss...- How to use constraints in the sport of canoeing - An ecological approach to equestrian sports- How to facilitate learning that is in the 'ugly zone'This is a great conversation, I hope you enjoy. https://dynamics-coaching.com/articles/learning-in-the-ugly-zone/

Ross Tucker is Professor of Exercise Physiology with the School of Medicine of the University of the Free State. He is the scientific and research consultant to World Rugby, ambassador and scientific advisor to Virgin Active and Adidas, and a published author, opinion leader and consultant to numerous elite sports teams and organisations.In this conversation we explore Talent ID and the 3 big mistakes that most talent system builders make. We also explore the phenomenon of cheating in sport and whether coaches should help players to use gamesmanship to gain an advantage. Finally, we look at Ross's work to use science to improve player welfare in rugby and explore the challenges of bringing about behaviour change in professional sport. Ross's website is https://sportsscientists.com and he can be found tweeting at @scienceofsport and podcasting at 'The Real Science of Sport Podcast' - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-real-science-of-sport-podcast/id1461719225

Ben Galloway is back from his sabbatical running a football academy in Uganda and came to stay with me ahead of a trip north to join Keith Davids and colleagues for a conference on changing lives, community sport and skill acquisition research.Ben came to coach with me and we then sat down to reflect on the session and to discuss his recent experiences in Africa and some of his latest thinking around ecological dynamics, learning design and how the 'form of life' of a coach can affect they way that they act. Hope you enjoyIf you are interested in getting hold of the bonus recordings from the conference and our reflections from it then that will be made available to Patreon subscribers. Go to https://www.patreon.com/thetalentequation to become a subscriber

Ian Renshaw is back and he has a new book out that he wrote with Danny Newcombe, Keith Davids and Will Roberts. The book (link below) is designed to introduce coaches to the concepts, principles and language of the Constraints Led Approach and offers practical examples of how the approach can be used to support athlete development. In this conversation we delve into some of these principles including: - The difference between representative task design and variability - The importance of information in the environment and the folly of removing this information - How to design practices to feel like the real thing- An exploration of 'affordance led coaching'I hope you enjoyhttps://www.amazon.co.uk/Constraints-Led-Approach-Constraints-Based-Methodologies/dp/1138104078/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3QUYL3PY38Z9H&keywords=the+constraints+led+approach&qid=1567450257&s=gateway&sprefix=the+constra%2Caps%2C141&sr=8-1

Matt Young is an entrepreneur, coach, film maker and advocate for youth sport. He has been working with the United States Olympic Commission to develop a new framework for children's sport in North America which led to him making a documentary about the challenges facing young people in sport called 'The Cost of Winning' https://vimeo.com/potentialpictures/costofwinning In this episode we cover a lot of ground including...- How he made $97 Million dollars by developing a personal training business that placed the participant experience at the heart of the provision- The 5 F's of a great youth sport experience - Why we all need to understand that we are 'all in sales'- The 6 factors driving drop out of youth sportIt is a fascinating discussion that I hope you enjoy as much as I did.

Jonathan Harding is a freelance sports journalist who specialises in German football. He writes predominantly for Germany's international broadcaster Deutsche Welle, but has also contributed to the likes of FourFourTwo, Rabona Magazine and 11 Freunde. Germany has a reputation for being the place where young footballers get the chance to develop, but what about coaches? Speaking to different coaches and members of staff across the country, Jonathan's book 'Mensch - Beyond the cones' outlines the attributes that make the German coach development system special. In this conversation we explore many of the insights contained within the book including: - How coaching in Germany goes beyond the stereotypical view of German culture towards a holistic human centred philosophy. - How coaches are innovating and using technology to identify 'talent that whispers'.- The way the German football system is embracing a game based philosophy at the grass roots using ideas devised from the world of field hockey. Hope you enjoy

Jonny McMurtry runs a brilliant blog called www.coachingthecoaches.net. His articles cover some fascinating subjects that really challenge thinking and stimulate debate. He is currently researching coaching at the University of Queensland exploring athlete motivations and what this means for coaches looking to ensure that players remain engaged and reduce drop out. In the conversation we cover the following....- What his research found that was important to players and how coaches had lost sight of this. - His views on the nature of the sports experience for young people in talent pathways- Why 'dynamic thinking' might be at the heart of players centred coaching experiences - What 'Self Determination Theory' can tell us about athlete motivation and how it can help us provide better coaching experiencesHope you enjoy

JP Nerbun is a coach and coach mentor that specialises in transformational leadership. He is the host of the 'Thrive on challenge' podcast and the author of a great new book called 'Calling Up - Discovering your journey to transformational leadership'. In this conversation we cover A LOT of ground but some of the highlights include...- Why we can't just be the 'accountability police'- How JP advocates 'transformational discipline' instead of 'transactional discipline'- Why a change towards a more positive coaching approach brought about a nose dive in his win loss record but also brought other big winsThis is a doozyEnjoyIf you would like to learn more and develop your skills as a coach then please consider joining 'The Conclave' - The Talent Equation's very own learning community. Just head to https://www.patreon.com/thetalentequation to join

Alex Lascu is a researcher and Cricket Coach from Australia. She has dual Bachelor's degrees (Exercise Science & Psychology) from the Queensland University of Technology and is now studying a PhD at the University of Canberra. Alex is passionate in the pursuit of research in sport, focusing on talent development of female cricketers. In this conversation we explore some of Alex's thoughts about coaching and athlete development in cricket as well as delving into some of the really interesting findings of her research. In this conversation we cover the following...- Alex's approach to assessing the level of variability in practice sessions- Why here PhD supervisors can't believe the fact that the practices she studied are all exactly the same- Her thoughts on the role of emotions in the creation of learning environmentsAlex's Medium page https://medium.com/@lascule

This week I managed to navigate timezones and scheduling and technology challenges to 'facilitate' a conversation with Ted Kroeten from Joy of the People, Joey Peters from Game-Play-Learn and Debbie Sayers from Salisbury Rovers to discuss everything about Free Play and the sports experience for children. It is a fantastic conversation full of useful insights and reminders of why we do what we do. Enjoy

Will Roberts is a senior lecturer in sport and exercise at the University of Gloucestershire. His teaching and research interests revolve around two key areas; the sociology of sport, and coaching pedagogy. His PhD examines the role coaching has in providing social and personal change. In this conversation we explore the challenges that coaches face when adopting a constraints led approach to coaching, we also discuss the importance of a strong understanding of human movement and bio-mechanics is important to support effective practice design.We also delve into a project that he is leading that adopts a non linear approach to the development of physical literacy for children in schools and clubs. Linkshttp://www.boingkids.co.uk/https://www.amazon.co.uk/Constraints-Led-Approach-Constraints-Based-Methodologies/dp/1138104078/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1B25QUU3TDNRA&keywords=constraints+led+approach&qid=1561498587&s=gateway&sprefix=constrants+%2Caps%2C192&sr=8-1