The Talent Equation Podcast

Tyler Yearby is a movement skill coach who is part of a growing community of movement specialists that are challenging orthodoxy within coaching in the U.S. Tyler has been heavily involved in supporting Shawn Myzska in creating the Sport Movement Skill Conference. Tyler has worked in a range of sports but his main focus is American Football and he has a range of clients that are playing professionally in the Canadian Football League. In this conversation we explore the ways that Tyler uses ecological principles to guide his coaching and help athletes to develop the skill to perform at their sport. We discuss the challenges of working using a non linear approach and explore ways that we design environments that allow athletes to discover skilful performance strategies. This is a great discussion that I really enjoyedhttps://tyinspiremovement.com/

Sam Jarman is back and this time he is really challenging some of my conceptions of what we understand to be the reality of the youth sport experience. In this episode we delve into philosophical psychology as we explore whether what we value in sport is actually a product of social and cultural constructs which restrict us from genuinely exploring the nature of our experiences and limiting our abilities to tap into genuine human well-being through play, creativity and exploration. This is a mind bender, and you will hear me trying to get my head around some of the ideas and try and bring them to life through relevance to my own experience. Have fun!!Link to Sam's latest book https://samjarmangolf.com/product/take-relief-paperback/

Gunny is back with his unique brand of coaching conversation. As always, Gunny is on point exploring all things engagement and coach development. In this conversation we explore why Gunny feels that coaches should embrace 'Maslow before Bloom' in a reference to meeting an athlete's needs before learning can occur. We also discuss how indigenous games can be used to develop skills and how traditional game forms have been lost from the youth sports experience. It is a conversation full of 'Gunny Gold Nuggets and one not to be missed. If you want to come and learn with Gunny and myself while he is over in the UK then click on this link to register. http://www.thetalentequation.co.uk/eventsOther links Gunny's Youtube Channel 'Gunn Engagement' - https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=gunn+engagementGunny's website - https://www.craiggunn.org/

It was fantastic to welcome Coach Reed Maltbie back to the show. Coach Reed has been really busy since his last visit. He has just been part of a team that coordinated a massive global youth sports Think Tank called GO! Chase Excellence and he is now engaged in providing mentoring and coach development support for a range of sports organisations including U.S Sailing, Ontario Volleyball and Soccer Shoots FC. In this conversation we explore how Reed uses 'Positive Discipline' in his coaching as well as how he uses 'we' language to create connection and engagement. We also explore how we approach coach development and mentoring and share some of our successes and challenges. It's a great conversation that I am sure you will enjoy

Ben Franks is a researcher in skill acquisition at the University Campus in Football Business (UCFB) based at Wembley in London and he is also a goalkeeper coach. His research studied visual search behaviour in elite goalkeepers and sought to explore how they use their eyes to help them with anticipatory decision making. This episode is made of 2 halves. The first half delves into the research and explores a range of challenging topics in ecological dynamics. The second half is more practical where we explore the implications of this research for coaches and how we can better create learning environments that help players with decision making and anticipation. Hope you enjoy

Olly Logan is 'Analysis Lead' at British Swimming. This is a rather misleading title as it doesn't really do justice to the role that Olly plays in supporting the development of elite British swimmers. As you will see from this conversation Olly's role is about using analysis, data, research and skill acquisition knowledge to devise interventions that will help the best get better. In this fascinating conversation we explore a range of topics including: Why all road cyclists should do cyclo-crossWhy we should keep the 'technical groove' as shallow as possible for as long as possibleHis very different take on 'the rule of 3'The ways he helped an existing Olympic Champion to become even better This is one not to be missed...

Lucy Moore is a coach, coach developer and coach development professional. The is the Coach Development Manager at Sport England working to support coaches and members of the professional workforce in the England Talent Pathway. In this conversation we explore her career journey and why she loves working in sport and helping others to coach. We discuss approaches to coach development and explore ways that we can have more honest conversations with athletes and other coaches by searching for 'radical candour'. We also discuss when is the right time to 'tell' people something to do instead of always using questions. The 'radical candour' model can be seen here https://mk0radicalcandov3r1t.kinstacdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/2x2-white.gif Hope you enjoy

Sion Kitson is an international Futsal Coach and Coach Developer working with the England Futsal Teams. Sion has been working in the Futsal for many years having stumbled across the sport at University and falling in love with the sport after representing GB as a player and getting beaten by Portugal 20-0!! In this fascinating conversation we explore how Futsal has developed and how the game demands different experiences of players and how he has adapted his coaching to meet the unique demands of the sport. Hope you enjoy

Gregor Wood was one half of the intrepid duo that worked with me to organise the live learning event that we hosted at Stewart Melville's College in Edinburgh recently. We got together to record a podcast to discuss our reflections on the event and to share our key takeaway messages from the speakers and practical sessions. Hope you enjoy.

The podcast panel is back. This week I am joined by Loren Anderson, David Hinchliffe and Ed Coughlan. In this great conversation we start by discussing a challenge that Loren faces with getting children to attune to the visual cues that will help them perform more effectively and then begin to explore a range of topics including a fabulous 10 minute rant from Ed on his views on a new sporting development framework in Ireland. Hope you enjoy

Calvin Betton is back. As always, Calvin isn't short of an opinion or 2 about the word of tennis. Calvin came on to the show because he had listened to the recent podcast panel and wanted to explore some of the areas that were discussed around the use of instructions to get some clarification based on some recent experiences. He also shares his love of music and we discuss the development of musical skill and how this relates to sport. It's a great conversation and it really helped me to clarify a few things in my mind too!! Enjoy

Jamie Edwards is a performance coach...he helps people to become the best versions of themselves. He has worked with some of the most famous sports stars that the UK has produced but that is only half of the story. The real work is the work he does with young people to help to equip them for the journey ahead...Jamie has had a profound impact on my life in so many ways and some of his teachings have helps me to support someone close to me to recover from a serious crisis. His stuff is good, it is practical and it works!! In this episode we discuss the difference between chats and conversations, the power of 'de-labeling', how psychological archetypes and metaphors can enhance performance and how to help people to develop the tools and skills to help them navigate through the challenges that they will face in sport and life.It's a long one...but I think its worth the investment in time.

Nick Davey is a full time field hockey coach that works in the North West of England. He has been on a fascinating learning journey and has been really committed to his development. This podcast came about because Nick and I were in conversation about some of the challenges that have been presented by the recent discussions around 'it depends'. In this conversation we explore his philosophy and search for authenticity. We also discuss methodology and the ways that he works with different audience groups. He also puts some robust challenges in front of people that are working in a linear way to be able to justify that approach. It's a great conversation with a highly committed practitioner. Hope you enjoy

Kendal McWade came over for a visit. While he was here we did some work on my golf game and he also did some work with my son. As has become customary, we went for a meal and the conversation started to flow, we got home and had a coffee in my kitchen and I pressed record to capture some of the areas we were exploring together. We delve into the skill acquisition process, how we can enrich individual practice and also how we help players to become creative problem solvers. I hope you enjoy

This week's podcast is a bit different I am joined by some guests who have made appearances on the show previously to discuss topical issues that are on their minds. On the panel this week is Mark O'Sullivan, Nick Levett, David Hinchliffe, Rob Grey and Andrew Wilson. Key themes covered include...Whether coaching using a mixed methods approach is actually just a cop out?What Ringo Starr can tell us about the way we learn in the physical domainThe difference between understanding 'in' the game rather than just understanding 'of' the gameHow you can use instruction within the ecological approachHope you enjoy

Alex Twitchen has spent all his life in coaching. It is something that he has been able to combine as a career and as a practitioner. He is passionate about learning and development and is as passionate about helping other coaches develop as he is about the development of the players he coaches. His most recent career move has seen him working in the 'University in the Cloud' so that he can bring more opportunities to help more coaches learn and develop. We cover a lot of ground in this episode but here are some of the nuggets you will take away by listening... - Jelly Tot Football- Trachcan Challenge- The 'Open Box' curriculum for coaches- His new project to help coaches to develop other coaches- The flow between games based and constraints led approachesLots to take away!! Hope you enjoy

Anastacia Long has had an amazing coaching journey. In this enthralling story (that is straight out of the Hollywood archives), she tells us all about her journey from going from being an elite high board diver to the novice rugby coach of a group of under 15 boys with no previous rugby experience and how they went all the way to the finals of England Rugby’s national schools’ competitions. In this episode she shares the way in which her coaching approach has evolved and developed and describes the ways in which she creates an environment which asks the players to lead the activity, self-organise. The story is fascinating but also the lessons that we can take away a very powerful. I hope you enjoy

The Superbowl is coming this weekend!! As my excitement increases in the build up to the amazing global showcase of sporting endeavour and razzmatazz, I thought it was the perfect time to invite the human encyclopedia of all things movement skill in the NFL, Shawn Myszka (aka @movementmiyagi on Twitter) and author of the amazing blog 'Football Beyond the Stats' https://footballbeyondthestats.wordpress.com/author/shawnmyszka/ back on the podcast to share some of his insights on some of the star players of the season and geek out about skill acquisition and coaching. In this discussion, Shawn shares some of the challenges he has faced this year facing up to some limitations in his coaching repertoire supporting athletes who are "hyper adaptable on the field but not hyper adaptable off the field!" He also dissects some of the star movers of the year, shares his approach to challenging players and taking them outside their comfort zone and we explore some deeper concepts around adaptability. This is one not to be

Sarah Kelleher is the Head Coach of the England U18 Girls Field Hockey team. She is one of the most creative and playful coaches that I have ever had the pleasure to meet and coach with. We worked together in the England Hockey talent pathway and it was one of the highlights of my coaching journey so far. She brings creativity and joy to to everything she does, even the process to planning, session design and reflection!In this conversation we discuss how she uses a range of approaches to creating a motivational climate that is joyful, creative and playful while at the same time being focused on excellence, performance and 'grit'. I really hope you enjoy this conversation because I know I did!! If you would like to hear Sarah talk more about the development of a motivational climate and actually see her in action then you are in luck. She is speaking at the 'Talent Equation Live' conference that I am hosting in Edinburgh with the support of the fine people at Stewart Melville's College. Go to my events page

Professor Keith Davids is Professor of Motor Learning at the Centre for Sports Engineering Research at Sheffield Hallam University in the UK. Keith is one of the 'founding fathers' of the 'ecological approach' to skill acquisition and motor learning in sport. His research investigates the role constraints play on coordination tendencies in athletes and sports teams which he defines as 'complex adaptive systems'. In this conversation in the cafe at the University (Keith's office) we explore the world of skill acquisition, 'Non Linear Pedagogy' and the 'Constraints Led Approach'. We are joined by Ben Galloway from the brilliant 'Opposite Direction' YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsVkH7793RMAhYqKLXle_vQ. (check out these videos for an explanation of some of the concepts we discuss). It is a fascinating conversation, I hope you enjoy...Link to Keith's book is available herehttps://www.amazon.co.uk/Nonlinear-Pedagogy-Skill-Acquisition-Introduction/dp/0415744393/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&