The Sport Psych Show
Dan Abrahams
Join Sport Psychologist, Dan Abrahams, on The Sport Psych Show as he aims to demystify sport psychology for players, coaches and parents by speaking with some of the most influential people in sports performance today. Dan is on a mission to learn more about how sport psychology philosophies, tools and techniques positively impact participation, progression and performance in sport. He wants to learn more about how to drive participation – what motivational tools engage players and inspire people to play and stay in their sport. He wants to explore how players can progress quicker and more effectively – what is great practice and training? And how does learning in sport really happen? Finally, he wants to hear what his guests have to say about the psychology of performance – how do they think players can improve their ability to high perform consistently under pressure? Discover simple and practical tools and techniques by listening in to Dan's conversations with elite competitors, sports coaches, sport scientists, and psychologists.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Mar 16, 2026 • 59min
#339 Dr Andreas Küttel - Exploring Mental Health and Performance Dynamics
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.
Mar 2, 2026 • 58min
#338 Dr David Moran - Grouping by Ability in Youth Sport
Dr David Moran, coach and researcher in Gaelic games and youth sport practices. He explores ability grouping (streaming) in youth sport. Topics include how streaming shapes team continuity and challenge. They discuss equity and implementation problems, coaching expectations, and practical club strategies to make streaming fairer.
Feb 16, 2026 • 42min
#337 Katja Rewitz - Exploit or Explore: Decision Making in Sport
Katja Rewitz, a second-year PhD student at the University of Hamburg studying decision making in sport, explores the explore versus exploit trade-off. She discusses how sensations, effort, fatigue and time pressure shape choices. Practical sport examples span shoes, tactics and tyre strategy. The conversation covers lab methods, coach implications and plans for future studies.
Feb 2, 2026 • 59min
#336 Dr Simon Quick - Balancing Athlete Welfare with the Pressure to Perform
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.
Jan 19, 2026 • 1h 1min
#335 Dave Webb - Preparing for the Pressure of Tournament Play
Dave Webb, a seasoned football manager and coach with over 20 years in elite football, shares insights from his journey as Georgia's National Team Assistant Manager. He highlights how sport psychology informs recruitment, emphasizing character and self-regulation in players. Webb discusses tactics for preparing teams under pressure, using cross-sport examples to build belief and identity. He reflects on past successes and challenges, aiming to shape the future of football in Georgia while pursuing his ambitions as a top club head coach.
Dec 22, 2025 • 58min
#334 Simon Gelsthorpe - Emotionally Informed Coaching
Simon Gelsthorpe, a clinical psychologist with a focus on emotions, shares insights on Emotionally Informed Coaching, a framework designed to enhance athletes' emotional well-being and performance. He highlights the importance of understanding emotions as predictors of future actions rather than mere reactions. Simon discusses the need for coaches to develop a precise emotional vocabulary and to facilitate open conversations about feelings. He also emphasizes reframing sadness as a motivational force and advocates for measuring athletes' emotional experiences beyond traditional performance metrics.
6 snips
Dec 8, 2025 • 48min
#333 Dr Robin Owen and Prof Shuge Zhang - The Impact of Anxiety on Performance
Dr. Robin Owen, a sport psychology lecturer at Liverpool Hope University, and Prof. Shuge Zhang, a research professor at Hunan University of Technology, dive into the complex interplay of anxiety and performance in athletes. They discuss how distraction and self-focus can either harm or help performance, revealing insights from regional netball players about their lived experiences with anxiety. The duo emphasizes the importance of tailored interventions to help athletes control attention and navigate pressure, providing practical strategies for sports practitioners.
Nov 17, 2025 • 50min
#332 Dr Alan McKay - Supporting Players to Develop Mental Toughness
I'm delighted to speak with Dr Alan McKay in this week's episode. Alan is an HCPC sport psychologist, researcher, and practitioner. He completed his PhD in sport psychology with the Football Association of Wales (FAW) and is currently working as a senior research assistant at the FAW Centre for Football Research, housed at the University of South Wales. In this role he helps to produce multidisciplinary, world-leading, applied performance science research to enhance the performance of Welsh athletes and organisations. Alan also works within elite level sport at both Welsh Triathlon and in his own company Mindframe Performance, where he has supported athletes competing at both the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. In this episode Alan and I discuss behaviour-based approaches to mental toughness in sport.
Nov 3, 2025 • 54min
#331 Dr Erin Prior - Navigating Athlete Mental Health
Dr. Erin Prior, a Chartered Sport and Exercise Psychologist and Lecturer at Loughborough University, delves into the complexities of athlete mental health. She shares insights from her extensive consultancy work, emphasizing the importance of nuanced conversations about mental health, particularly among performance directors. Erin discusses the risks of simplifying mental health challenges, the influence of sporting environments, and the crucial roles of multidisciplinary teams. Her research advocates for better understanding and support structures for athletes confronting mental health issues.
Oct 13, 2025 • 51min
#330 Johan Forsberg - Examining the Relationship Between Psychological States and Performance
Johan Forsberg, a former professional ice hockey player turned mental performance coach, shares insights into the psychology behind athletic performance. He discusses the intricacies of leadership and group dynamics in sports, emphasizing the importance of personal strategies over talent labels. Fascinatingly, Johan reveals that pre-game psychological states surprisingly don’t predict performance but rather, game outcomes influence athletes' moods the following day. He advocates for personalized emotion-management techniques to enhance athlete wellbeing and performance.
