Podcast
The Sport Psych Show
Hosted by Dan Abrahams · EN
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.
29episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
#337 Katja Rewitz - Exploit or Explore: Decision Making in Sport
Feb 1600:42:20Tap to summarizeI'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.
Transcribe →
#336 Dr Simon Quick - Balancing Athlete Welfare with the Pressure to Perform
Feb 200:58:32Tap to summarizeI 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.
Transcribe →
#335 Dave Webb - Preparing for the Pressure of Tournament Play
Jan 1901:00:56Tap to summarizeI'm delighted to speak with Dave Webb in this week's episode. Dave is a leading manager and coach who has been at the forefront of elite international and club football for more than two decades. Dave has held various sporting director, coaching, and recruitment roles at the highest levels of the game both in the UK and abroad. He is currently the Georgia National Team Assistant Manager where he helped Georgia make history with qualification to a first-ever tournament as well as reaching the knock-out stages at the European Championships in 2024. Dave holds a master's degree in sport psychology. He also has a UEFA A Licence and is currently working towards his UEFA Pro Licence.
Transcribe →
#334 Simon Gelsthorpe - Emotionally Informed Coaching
Dec 2200:58:12Tap to summarizeI speak with Simon Gelsthorpe in this week's episode. Simon is a clinical psychologist who specialises in emotions. He works with sports coaches and sports organisations to help them be more psychological in their coaching, thereby improving athlete emotional well-being and performance. Simon is a visiting fellow at the University of Bradford with the Psychology Centre. He is also the developer of Emotionally Informed Coaching.
Transcribe →
#333 Dr Robin Owen and Prof Shuge Zhang - The Impact of Anxiety on Performance
Dec 800:47:43Tap to summarizeI'm delighted to speak with Dr Robin Owen and Prof Shuge Zhang in this week's episode. Robin is a Senior Lecturer in Sport Psychology at Liverpool Hope University. His research aims to advance our understanding of anxiety, attentional focus, motor control, skill acquisition, statistical prediction, cognitive functioning, and talent identification/development. Shuge is currently a research Professor in Sport & Exercise Psychology at Hunan University of Technology in China. He previously lectured at the University of Derby. Shuge is a chartered psychologist of the British Psychological Society and a fellow of the Higher Education Academy. His research interest is the Person x Environment Interaction in performance and health contexts. In this episode, we discuss a fantastic paper Robin and Shuge contributed to which examined the impact of anxiety on performance in sports players.
Transcribe →
#332 Dr Alan McKay - Supporting Players to Develop Mental Toughness
Nov 1700:49:42Tap to summarizeI'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.
Transcribe →
#331 Dr Erin Prior - Navigating Athlete Mental Health
Nov 300:53:42Tap to summarizeI am delighted to speak with Dr Erin Prior in this episode. Erin is a Chartered Sport and Exercise Psychologist working across a range of sports. Erin has her own sport psychology consultancy practice working with a wide range of athletes, coaches, and parents to enhance their psychological approach to their sport. She has worked with a variety of sporting organisations including the FA, The Wheelchair Football Association, Swim England, West Bromwich Albion, Aston Villa FC, and Leicestershire and Rutland Sport. Erin has also worked as a consultant for various universities including Warwick University, Coventry University, and Birmingham City University. Erin is also a Lecturer in Psychology at Loughborough University. Her research focuses on athlete mental health, specifically sporting staff understandings and experiences of supporting athlete mental health and illness. Erin graduated with a BSc in Psychology from Coventry University, followed by an MSc in Sport and Exercise Psychology from Loughborough University. In 2020, Erin returned to the School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences at Loughborough University as a Post-Graduate University Teacher to undertake a part-time PhD alongside teaching in psychology and sport and exercise psychology. Erin's PhD explored how staff within elite sport conceptualise mental health and mental illness, staff experiences of managing athlete mental health support, and an Olympic athlete's experience of living with bipolar disorder. In this episode we discuss one of the papers from Erin's PhD.
Transcribe →
#330 Johan Forsberg - Examining the Relationship Between Psychological States and Performance
Oct 1300:51:24Tap to summarizeI'm delighted to speak with Johan Forsberg in this week's episode. Johan is a mental performance coach and Swedish former professional ice hockey player. Johan helps individuals, groups and organisations to develop, feel and perform better. He is primarily interested in leadership, motivation and group dynamics. Johan has provided support and training for coaches, managers, and elite athletes. Prior to his work as a mental performance coach, Johan played professional ice hockey for 15 years including playing for Luleå HF, the highest level in the Swedish Hockey League.
Transcribe →
#318 Prof Stephen Harvey & Dr Ed Cope - Understanding and Improving Player Learning
Apr 21, 202501:23:20Tap to summarizeIn this episode I welcome back Prof Stephen Harvey and Dr Ed Cope to the show. 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 the Coach Educator Developer at US Soccer Federation and the Head Coach at Ohio Soccer Club. Ed has been a lecturer in Sport Coaching for over a decade and is currently based at the prestigious Loughborough University. Ed has also worked in football, holding the role of Learning Design and Development Manager at the English Football Association where he was responsible for the design and development of their education courses.
Transcribe →
#317 Dr Josie Perry - ADHD in Sport: Strategies for Success
Apr 7, 202500:56:51Tap to summarizeI’m delighted to welcome back Dr Josie Perry in this week’s episode. Josie is a chartered sport psychologist, working mainly 1-1 with athletes – from novice athletes just starting out through to world champions. She teaches athletes the skills they need to overcome barriers to success and ensures they feel more comfortable and confident when they compete. Josie is also an author, writing features for magazines including cycling weekly. In this episode we discuss her latest book “ADHD in Sport: Strategies for Success”. The book illuminates the ADHD brain in sporting environments, looks at the benefits of exercise on ADHD, the impact of ADHD traits on sporting performance, has chapters full of tools to help wellbeing, training and competition, information on cooccurring conditions and ADHD medication in sport and concludes with chapters for coaches, parents and partners.
Transcribe →