The Sport Psych Show

I speak with Prof Rosemary Purcell & Dr Courtney Walton in this week's episode. Rosie is Director of Knowledge Translation at Orygen. She is also the Deputy Head of Department of the Centre for Youth Mental Health at the University of Melbourne and a registered psychologist. Rosie has co-authored over 150 publications in the areas of youth mental health, early intervention in forensic mental health and mental health in elite sport. She is an investigator on a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Project Grant investigating the benefits of physical activity for young people with depression, and a member of the International Olympic Committee's Elite Athlete Mental Health Consensus Group and the IOC's Mental Health Translation Working Group. Rosie's primary research interests are understanding mental health problems in elite athletes and developing optimal strategies for improving and maximising mental health and wellbeing in sporting environments Courtney is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow within the Mental Health in Elite Sports research group at The University of Melbourne and Orygen. He is also a psychologist at The Mind Room, where he works primarily with athletes and performers. Courtney's research aims are to understand the aspects of unstable and competitive environments that both positively and negatively interact with mental health. He is also interested in exploring the ways in which sport and exercise can be supportive of adolescent mental health and well-being. He is an Associate Editor at Australian psychologist, and has contributed to research and consultancy projects with leading sporting organisations such as the AFL, AIS, Cricket Australia, and Tennis Australia. So far, he has published over 50 peer reviewed articles and book chapters. Courtney and Rosie have co-authored a fantastic paper entitled "An Evidence-Informed Framework to Promote Mental Wellbeing in Elite Sport" and it's this paper we discuss in detail. You can read the paper here: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.780359/full

I speak to Dr Desmond McEwan in this week's episode. Desi is a Chartered Psychologist and Assistant Professor at the University of Bath. His research examines the psychology of human health and performance and he has a particular interest in teamwork, group dynamics, team effectiveness, psychological safety, goal setting, and behaviour change. Desi has written a fascinating paper along with Kaitlin Crawford entitled "Why does teamwork execution breakdown? Experiences of university team sport athletes". We take a deep dive into the paper and discuss the novel findings from the study which extend current knowledge of teamwork and group dysfunction in sport and provide directions for future research on teamwork breakdowns. We also discuss the potential applied implications for coaches and other team leaders related to these findings. You can find the article here: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/359073208_Why_does_teamwork_execution_breakdown_Experiences_of_university_team_sport_athletes

I'm delighted to speak to coach, researcher and educator, Ross Ensor in this week's episode. Ross is a PhD researcher in Sports Coaching at Loughborough University. He has experience with grassroots, semi-professional, national and county squads, and as a Foundation Phase coach at Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (where he also worked in the pre-academy and the development centre). Ross is passionate about creating positive learning environments to support multidisciplinary player development and has a particular interest in games-based approaches to coaching. We discuss an article he has written about using a game-sense approach to coaching.

I speak with Dr Trish Jackman and Rebecca Hawkins in this episode. Both Trish and Rebecca are Senior Lecturers in Sport and Exercise Psychology at the University of Lincoln. Trish's research focuses on optimal experiences in sport and exercise. This work seeks to understand the positive, rewarding experiences that athletes and exercisers have during sport and physical activity to understand how these experiences can be promoted. Rebecca studies part-time for her PhD alongside her role as a lecturer. Her research is focused on the role of goal setting in physical activity promotion. We discuss a number of Trish and Rebecca's research papers that cluster around themes such as flow and clutch states, performance under pressure, goal setting, and self-regulation. You can check out their profiles and papers here: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Patricia-Jackman https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Rebecca-Hawkins-8

I speak to Dr Brandon Orr in this week's episode. Brandon is a Sport and Performance Psychology Specialist with 20 years' experience coaching, educating, and training individuals and teams in executive-corporate entities, sport and performance domains and Special Operations personnel. Brandon integrates evidence-based strategies for applied psychology for the purpose of facilitating resilience, optimising sustained high performance, as well as assessment and selection of personnel for leadership aptitude, job fit, personality screening, and talent assessment, acquisition, and development. Brandon trained under Dr Rick McGuire at The University of Missouri before becoming Director of Sport Psychology at the University of Missouri. He currently works as Lead Cognitive Performance Specialist for the United States Special Operations Command.

I'm delighted to speak to performance, leadership and coaching expert, Dr Jerry Lynch in this week's episode. Jerry has been coaching for an incredible 58 years. Jerry helps 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. Using a rather unconventional approach, by combining Eastern Thought, Native American Tradition and western psychology, 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. Jerry has worked with athletes and teams at universities such as The University of North Carolina, Duke, Maryland, Oregon State, Stanford, Harvard, Middlebury, Syracuse, UConn, Washington, Iowa, New Mexico and more. Jerry has conducted countless seminars and workshops talking about what it takes to be a champion. He is also the author of 15 books, including his upcoming book Everyday Champion Wisdom (out soon).

I'm delighted to speak to Dr Karen Treisman MBE in this week's episode. Karen is an award winning, highly specialised clinical psychologist and trauma specialist. Karen is the founder of Safe Hands and Thinking Minds which supports organisations to help them become more trauma, adversity and culturally informed at a language, policy, culture, and practice level. This work focuses on creating meaningful and multi-layered cultural and paradigm shift across whole systems. Karen is the best-selling author of 10 books and is a TEDx speaker on the power of relationships and viewing behaviour as communication. Karen and I discuss how organisations and individuals can be more trauma, adversity and culturally informed.

I'm delighted to speak to Dr Stephen Harvey in this week's episode. Stephen is Professor in Sport Pedagogy at Ohio University. His research is focused on teacher/coach pedagogy and practice and its influence on student/player learning. Stephen is a former junior international field hockey coach and currently works with organisations such as USA field hockey and the United States Olympic Committee in a coach development and education role. He has successfully completed international coach educator/developer qualification and was previously a coach educator with England Hockey. Stephen is an experienced licensed soccer and badminton coach. In 2016 he was honoured as a Research Fellow by the Society of Health and Physical Educators (SHAPE) America due to his extensive contributions to research in both physical education and sports coaching. Stephen is particularly interested in game-based approaches to teaching and coaching. And it's this topic that forms the basis of our discussion in this episode.

I'm delighted to speak to Christian Swann in this week's episode. Christian is Associate Professor in Psychology at Southern Cross University, Australia. Christian's research areas are in goal setting, mental health, and the psychology of exceptional performance. We discuss a research article that Christian has written alongside a number of authors which aims to critically examine the use of SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Timebound) goals for physical activity promotion. The paper recognises that SMART is a highly prominent strategy for setting physical activity goals. And, while it is intuitive, and its practical value has been recognised, the scientific underpinnings of the SMART acronym are less clear. Therefore, the paper's aim is to narratively review and critically examine the scientific underpinnings of the SMART acronym and its application in physical activity promotion. Specifically, the review suggests that the SMART acronym: is not based on scientific theory; is not consistent with empirical evidence; does not consider what type of goal is set; is not applied consistently; is lacking detailed guidance; has redundancy in its criteria; is not being used as originally intended; and has a risk of potentially harmful effects. These issues are likely leading to sub-optimal outcomes, confusion, and inconsistency. Recommendations are provided to guide the field towards better practice and, ultimately, more effective goal setting interventions to help individuals become physically active. Read the article here https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17437199.2021.2023608

I'm delighted to speak to Dr Colum Cronin in this episode. Colum is Senior Lecturer in Physical Education and Sport Coaching at Liverpool John Moores University. Colum's research concerns youth sport coaching, coach education and coaching in community contexts. Colum has worked with a number of sporting organisations such as the Football Association and UK Coaching. He is an associate editor of the academic journal Sports Coaching Review and is co-author of the book 'Care in Sport Coaching' along with Kathleen Armour. And it's this brilliant book we discuss in this episode.